Rose
by RedestRose
Summary: UPDATED ON NOV. 13 Rose Clairmont has had an unlucky life. But when Nicholas Fugue takes her in, and Stephen Burns walks into her life, things start to make a positive change. But will they stay that way forever? CHAPTERS 10 is UP!
1. Prologue

Prologue

Some people were born unlucky. I was one of those people.

I was born on April 1, 1988. I was an April fool's joke, at least to my father. I never knew him, but my mother told me to never acknowledge him. She was the only person that I needed, and that was good enough for me. We live in New Orleans, on the nicer side of town, near the Garden District with my grandmother Beverly Clairmont. We lived with her for financial reasons, and to be close to family.

I vaguely remember those days. But a memory that will never leave my mind was the day my mother was killed. We were sitting on the front lawn of the house, enjoying the warm summer day, when a whizzing bullet struck her in the head. She fell to the ground, dead instantly. That was a week before my fifth birthday. After my mother's death, my grandmother tried to erase that horrible day from my memory with electroshock therapy, but it still lingers with me to this day.

After my mother's tragic dearth, my grandmother sent me away to a boarding school in New Orleans Called, " The Poitier Academy for young girls. I attended school there until I was 13, when my grandmother died. She was paying the tuition for the school, and since there was no one to handle the finances, they kicked me out of the school. Child Protective Services placed me with my Aunt Liza and my Uncle Robert. They lived a rich life with their two other children, and when I was almost 15, I was thrown onto the streets because of my "beguiling behavior." Finally, when there was no where left to go, I lived on the streets for two years.

And the day that I met Monsieur Nicholas was a day that change my life forever.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

For two years, I lived in and out of houses of friends, family, and complete strangers. I didn't have a job, or money, or a place to stay. I managed to get some money from friends to eat and stay alive, but it wasn't enough. I had to hide from CPS so they wouldn't put into a group home or with adoptive parents, but that was easy enough to do. I was still in school, and I had my report cards and other school mail sent to one of my closest friends' house. But the irony was, I didn't look like someone that lived from house to house, from friend to friend. I still had all of my old clothes from the academy, and a few of my other street clothes from my Aunt and Uncle's house, and a few of my mother's things that I had taken with me. They were the most valuable things that I owned, and I was never going to sell them, no matter how poor I was

I had finally found a job; a courtesy clerk for the local store, and I was making steady income for a while there. I finally had enough money to rent out a studio apartment, and I was starting to make a life for me; a life off of the streets. I lived there in the apartment for a while, held a steady job, when my good luck was short lived, and bad luck took it's place.

I was at work, helping an elderly woman with her groceries. We walked out to the parking lot, got to her car, and I started to load the groceries into the trunk. The old woman, walked to the drivers side of the car, unlocked the door, and started to get inside. After I was finished unloading the groceries, I shut the lid of the trunk and started to push the cart back into the store.

"Wait! Thief!" I suddenly heard, and she was running toward me, screaming with her fists in the air. "Thief!" She pointed to me, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What are you talking about ma'am?" I asked her, looking at her confusedly. She wagged her forefinger with me.

"My purse, it's gone! I had it in the store, and now I don't have it. It was sitting right there!" She exclaimed, pointing to the child seat in the cart. I glanced at the cart, and then back at the old woman.

'Ma'am, it wasn't there," I protested. Her screaming had brought some attention to us, and soon, the store manager ran out of the store.

"What is going on here?" He demanded, glaring at me. The old woman proceeded to tell her story of how I allegedly stolen her purse.

"Mademoiselle, what did your purse look like?" He asked calmly. I groaned and looked around in distress. A man who was walking out of the store watched me curiously and started to stroll over. _Great, just what I need, spectators_, I thought. He surveyed the situation for a minute, and then interjected.

"Excuse me sir," he said, his voice low and cold. I looked at him curiously, wondering what he was doing. "I think this is a big misunderstanding-"

"Sir! If you would please step out of the conversation, we could find out what happen to this madame's purse," the manager snapped at him. The man looked at me, winked, and stood in front of the manager.

"Sir, you have the wrong culprit!" The man yelled. The manager and the old woman stopped talking and looked at him. "Your purse is inside of the store. You left it at the register," he added. The woman looked at the manager, then to me, and then mumbled to herself, walking into the store. After the woman was out of earshot, the manager, who never liked me, turned to me and said, "Do not show up tomorrow, because you have been fired." He grunted and walked away. It happened so quickly, I didn't even have time to protest. Tears filled in my eyes, and I sighed, taking off my apron and walking away from the store, going to head home. _So much for keeping a steady job_.

"Wait!" The man yelled, running after me. I stopped, head low and waited for him to catch up.

"What is it sir?" I asked softly, wanting to go home and sleep.

"Please, come with me," he said. I raised my eyebrow in question. "You look like you could use some help," he said. I looked up. His eyes were warm and comforting, and I nodded and followed him to his car.

"I'm sorry that had to happen," he said, fishing through his pocket for his car keys. I shrugged.

"It was bound to happen," I muttered, standing by the car. He looked over at me and frowned.

"But there will be others, right?" He questioned, unlocking the passengers side door and I quickly got into the car, my head low.

"Probably not," I admitted, fearing that my statement was true. I wouldn't be able to pay the rent, and I would get kicked out of my first stable home, and once again, I'd be out in the streets, bouncing from house to house.

"Where do you live? I'll drop you off," he asked, starting the engine. I looked over at him and faintly smiled. He was very handsome, with dark brown hair, and blue eyes that sparkled with amusement. His smile was large and bright, and he could radiate happiness. _If only I could get some happiness..._

"Downtown," I murmured, leaning back in the seat and closing my eyes which burned with tears. He nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, going down the road.

"What's your name?" He asked. He seemed to be full of questions, but he was keeping a lively conversation going.

"Rosalyn Clairmont," I said softly, and I could see a wide smile from out of the corner of my eye.

"A beautiful name," he announced to himself, and chuckled. Hearing him laugh brought a small smile to my face.

"Ah, a smile!" He exclaimed, and I laughed, despite my depression. "I am Monsieur Nicholas Fugue," he announced regally and tilted his head up with pride. I foolishly giggled.

"Do people call you Monsieur?" I asked, looking out the window.

"No, it just sounds better," he said, and I laughed again. Suddenly, I didn't care that I had lost my job; I was laughing for the first time since I could remember. We were approaching the downtown area, and Nicholas turned to me for directions.

"Just go down this road," I instructed, biting down on my lower lip. Monsieur Nicholas was obviously a very wealthy man, and when he pulled up to my apartment, I felt lower than a sewer rat.

"Is this where you live?" he asked, looking around carefully. My heart sank a little bit, and I opened the door.

"Unfortunately," I murmured, walking up to the building. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Monsieur Nicholas following me.

"I don't want to leave you alone; something might happen," he said, stepping up beside me. "Besides, it's a gentlemen's duty to walk a lovely lady to her door."

I smiled, not feeling so ashamed anymore, and we walked into the building, up the two flights of stairs and over to number 323. I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. Monsieur Nicholas peered inside and gasped.

"You can come in if you want," I said, trying my hardest to ignore the gasp of surprise. I walked inside, dropped my purse on the floor and looked around. There was very little in the apartment. A small love seat sat in the middle of the large living room, and a lamp was sitting on the floor beside it. A tiny black and white TV was sitting onto of a crate that I had found behind the building. The kitchen was very empty; the fridge was hardly full of food to last for the week. The studio bedroom had a mattress lying on the floor with off white sheets to substitute for blankets, and stacks and stacks of notebooks sat by the mattress.

"You live in these conditions? You're only...17? How did you get to this point?" Nicholas asked as he gaped at my living conditions.

"It's a long story," I explained, turning on the TV.

"Well, please explain it to me," he demanded, and leaned against the wall. I sighed and ran my fingers through my long brown hair.

"My mother died when I was five, I was sent to the Poitier Academy for young girls, got thrown out, lived with my Aunt and Uncle, and then I ended up here," I said quickly, bearing no details. He shook his head.

"I can't let you stay here. If I left, I would be constantly worrying about you. Gather some of your things; you're staying with me," he decided.

"Are you sure? Monsieur, I am an inconvenience to you, I'm sure," I explained.

"Nonsense, and don't call me Monsieur," he snapped with a smile. I returned the beam and I gathered my most precious and needed things.

"Are you sure that's all you want to bring? I'm not letting you come back here," he said, standing in the doorway. I looked around at the apartment, looking to see if there was anything else that I needed. I shook my head, glad to see that I was finally leaving place and that I was going somewhere better than this dump. We walked down to his car and we sped away from the downtown area.

"You'll be staying in a wealthy area," he described as we raced down the roads. "In the Garden District. Are you familiar with it?"

"I used to live in the Garden District," I said, and Nicholas's head snapped my way.

"Get out of town," he said, lightly hitting my shoulder. I chuckled nervously. "And you mentioned earlier that you went to the Poitier Academy for Young Girls?"

"Yes. My grandmother was very rich, and after my mother died, she sent me there," I explained, watching as we pulled onto the main street in the Garden District.

"How did your mother die?" He asked. I felt a pang of pain in my heart, and sooner or later he would know, so it was better to tell him now.

"We were out in the front yard when a bullet struck her brain. She died instantly. I was five," I said softly, tears filling my eyes. Nicholas looked over at me and touched my hand gently.

"That must have been horrible," he said softly, darting his eyes back and forth at me. I nodded, wiping away a stray tear. "Tell me more."

"After my mother's death, I was sent to the academy. When I was thirteen years old, my grandmother died of a stroke. She was paying the tuition for the school, and since there was no one else to pay, I was taken out of the school by CPS. They sent me to my Aunt and Uncle's home to live there for a while, but they didn't like my behavior, so they kicked me out of the house."

"They just threw you onto the streets?" He asked with surprise. I nodded. "That's absurd. You were fifteen years old; you couldn't fend for yourself!" He added with outrage in his voice. "If I ever see those people Rosalyn, I will kill them." Hearing him talk so violently put a little fear in me, but I shrugged it away. "What happened after you lived at your Aunt's house?"

"I was living on the streets, staying at friends houses for a long time," I replied, sinking back into the past. "I knew I couldn't keep staying with friends for the rest of my life, so I got a job, and when I earned enough money, I rented out that apartment. I didn't have enough money for food, or to buy furniture, but it was a home to me," I said with a little sadness. Nicholas, who had been holding my hand, squeezed it tightly.

"Things will get better from here; I promise," he vowed, and we pulled into his driveway. I threw my eyes at the massive house, and I gasped. It was a typical New Orleans home; tall with two stories with Roman columns. The house was painted white with a forest green trimmingand had many patches of flowers by the entrance. Nicholas hurried out of the car and opened my door, greeting me.

"We arrived to Tara," he announced proudly, looking for my reaction. I couldn't stop staring. It was truly a beautiful house.

"Tara," I said, chuckling. "Gone with the wind."

"Of course. It only seemed fitting. Come inside. I'll have Richard, the butler, get your things," he said, pulling me up to the front doors. They swung open, and a tall man in his mid fifties was standing there with a bright smile on his face.

"Welcome home Mr. Fugue," He greeted with a nod. "Good evening Madame."

"Richard, this is Rosalyn Clairmont. She'll be staying with us for a while. Her things are in the car," Nicholas said, walking into the house. Nicholas hung his coat up in the foyer, and we walked inside. Immediately, a large staircase was dead ahead in the house, and three corridors were in the North, East and West of the house. On the left was Nicholas's study, along with the den and the dining room. On the right side of the house was the large living room and the family room, along with the kitchen. I was amazed at how big things were here, and Nicholas walked into his study. I followed after him, not knowing were to go.

"Have a seat," he said, pointing to one of the leather chairs that sat in front of his Cherry oak desk. "Make yourself at home." I smiled broadly at the thought, and I sat patiently, gazing around the room. He checked his messages on his answering machine, sifted through the mail, and then turned to me with a big grin.

"I really think you will like it here, Rosalyn," he said, nodding at his own comment.

"You don't have to call me Rosalyn," I said. "Rose is just fine."

"Rose," he whispered, pondering the thought. "I like it. Rose it is then." I smiled. "Come with me. I'll give you the grand tour of the house." I stood up from my chair and followed him around like an obedient puppy. The house was wonderful; it literally took my breath away, and he took me into the West wing to show me where I would be staying.

"There are your rooms," he said, opening up the bedroom door. A large four poster canopy bed was on the left wall, next to it were two night stands. The far wall had a large bay window with Crimson drapes covering it, and I smiled because red was my favorite color. The dresser sat next to the window with random ornaments and statues on top. Across from the bed on the right was, was an armoire with a TV, DVD player and a stereo. In bottom corner of the room was the bathroom, and it was the finest bathroom I had ever seen! The closet was in the opposite corner and was empty, but Nicholas promised that it would be full soon. On the right side of the armoire was another door, and this led to a private sitting room.

"This is too much," I whispered, looking around.

"You deserve it. After what you've been through," he said, and I looked up at him with tears in my eyes.

"Thank you so much," I said, and I ran to him to hug him. He gratefully wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

"You're welcome," he said softly, and we stood there for a few minutes, and I was so happy.

"I have some work to do if you're going to become my ward," he announced, pulling away. I wiped my tears away and nodded. "My wife should be home soon, and my son. We're going to have a grand dinner in your honor, so be prepared for _anything_," He said, as he walked out of my room. I looked around, still amazed that this was happening to me. I walked over to the bed, sat down on its crimson comforter and smiled.

"I'm home."

I went to sleep for about an hour, and when I woke up, I heard screaming downstairs.

"Nicholas, how could you do such a thing? Bring a girl in this house without my permission! Without my knowing?" A woman's voice yelled. I presumed her to be Nicholas's wife.

"Annabelle, she needed help. The girl is seventeen! She was living on her own in the streets, and she just got fired from her job! I took her in, and I felt compassion for her. She's a wonderful girl, I'm sure you'll like her," Nicholas argued.

"That's beside the point!" Mrs. Fugue shrieked. "How are we going to afford her? We can barely afford to have Zachary in the house!"

"That's a lie!" Nicholas yelled. "If you didn't spend four damned hours shopping all day, we'd have a lot more money!" I walked out of my room quietly, creeping downstairs to listen in.

"I'm offended Nicholas!" She cried, placing her palm over her mouth in shock. Nicholas turned away in anger and saw me standing at the foot of the stairs. Immediately when he saw me, his face grew softer and a small smiled settled onto his lips. "Rose." Mrs. Fugue turned my way and gaped at me. I chewed on my lip nervously.

"I heard yelling and I came to see what it was about," I said softly, slightly trembling at the way that they were both looking at me. Annabelle was a very beautiful woman, with long curled dark brown hair, and brown eyes that lit up with fire when she was angry. She had a slim figure and was much shorter than Nicholas.

"Oh, don't worry, just a married couple's arguments," he said with a nervous chuckle. "Rose, I would like you to meet my wife, Annabelle Fugue," he said, gesturing over to her. She removed her hand and smiled.

"Nice to meet you Rose," she said, obviously flushed with embarrassment. I smiled at her and walked down the stairs with as much poise as I could. I walked over to Nicholas and stood by his side. Annabelle was still gaping at me; later on, I found out that it was because she thought I was so beautiful. There was an awkward moment but Nicholas put on his best smile and turned to me.

"I have to prepare for dinner. It should be ready within fifteen minutes," he said. Annabelle dragged herself out of her staring and walked out to her car to get her bags from her long shopping trip.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was going to be such a problem," I said. "I can leave after tonight," I said, going to go up into my room and pack my things.

"Rose, wait!" He cried, running after me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. "Please, don't do that. My wife is a drama queen; she loves to stir things up, and she thinks that she's the leader of this household. Once she saw you; she couldn't believe how beautiful you were. You're staying here, and that's final," he said firmly. I pulled my arm away from him, and smiled. "I have to go prepare dinner. Please dress nicely; Annabelle doesn't like informal dinners at all," he stated, and I nodded. He smiled and ran off into the kitchen, and I turned up to the stairs and started to head back to my rooms. As I was walking back, I ran into someone, and I toppled to the floor.

"Oh, Gosh, I'm sorry," a young male voice said, and I was pulled up from the floor. Once I made sure I was OK, I looked up at the boy. It must have been Zachary, because he looked just like Nicholas, which meant he was very handsome. He was dressed in a bare naked ladies T-shirt and a pair of jeans, and his hair was longer than average and hung in his eyes. "Oh. You must be Rosalyn."

"Yes, that's me," I said, feeling nervous about meeting him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," he said shortly, and then walked past me. I watched him walk down the stairs and shrugged, walking back into my room to pick out something nice for dinner. I had a few hand-me-downs from a few of my friends that I stayed with, and most of the clothes were street clothes. But I picked out a light blue blouse, and a pair of dress pants. Hopefully, this would be formal enough for Annabelle's liking, because I wanted to make a nice impression on her. I pulled my hair back into a bun, put on some makeup, and then went downstairs.

"You're a little late," Annabelle said as I entered the dining room. Everyone else was seated and was starting their salads.

"I'm sorry," I said, hurrying to the seat next to Zach. He looked over at me, smiled, and then turned back to his salad. I looked at the silverware, and saw that it wasn't an ordinary table setting. I suddenly remembered when Mother sat me down at the grand dining room and taught me how to use each eating instrument, and I silently thanked God that I remembered that. I picked up the salad fork and started to eat, and Annabelle had been watching me. She somewhat wilted with disappointment that I knew how to eat, but she somewhat swelled with great pride. Nicholas winked at me, and he started a lively conversation.

"Rose, where were you born?" He asked, sitting back in the tall dining room chair. I wiped my mouth with my napkin and smiled.

"Here in New Orleans. At Saint Mary's Hospital on 32 street," I replied, pronouncing every word very clearly and spoke at an even tempo.

"Rose used to live in the Garden District a long time ago," Nicholas announced, and I somewhat blushed. That piqued Annabelle's curiosity.

"Oh really? Where at?" She inquired.

"I think the next street over, I'm not quite sure," I replied, shaking my head.

"What is your last name?" She asked quickly.

"Clairmont," I answered. She thought and pondered for a moment. "My Grandmother, who we lived with, her last name was Rosemont."

"Rosemont!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "You're Beverly Rosemont's Granddaughter?"

"Yes," I answered cautiously. _What was she getting at?_

"Oh my. Child, you came from a wonderful family," she gushed, and as she was thinking, her smile suddenly flew away. "Oh, oh my. You're mother, dear, I'm so sorry," she said. I bit on my lower lip and nodded.

"It's fine," I said, fighting hard to keep the tears away.

"It's awful what happened to her. They still haven't found him. It shocked the whole neighborhood," she announced. _Please, stop this..._ "Your Grandmother, and mother, were wonderful people."

"Yes," I said, angrily stabbing my garden salad with my fork. Nicholas looked at me nervously and changed the subject.

"Is everyone ready for the next course?" He asked, standing up. Everyone nodded, and Annabelle kept her eyes on me. I was dying of agony inside, but I had to keep a firm face and not let everyone one know. There was an awkward silence at the table but when Nicholas walked inside, that all stopped.

"Here we are. Fettuccine pasta with an creamy Alfredo sauce with mashed potatoes and garlic bread." He set the heavy tray down and we served ourselves.

"So Rose, are you into anything? Like, music or art?"

"I'm a writer," I announced, thinking of the stories that I had neglected since I had been working so much.

"Oh, a writer? How pleasant," Annabelle said, stirring her mashed potatoes with her fork. "What do you write about?"

"Mostly fiction stories, romance, anything I can think of," I said, pleased that it was a different subject.

"You must get that from your mother. She was a wonderful writer," Annabelle gushed, day dreaming at the table. I sighed and started to quickly finish my dinner.

"Would you mind if I read one of your works?" Nicholas asked. I nodded.

"They're not very good," I warned him, and he laughed.

"I've read your mother's work; she was a fantastic writer, and I'm sure you are too," he said. I smiled at his laugh and I ate the rest of my meal. "May I be excused?" I asked.

"Are you sure? I have a wonderful vanilla bean cheesecake for desert," Nicholas announced. I declined.

"I'm not feeling to well; it's been a long day," I said, standing up. He nodded reluctantly and I walked slowly out of the dining room and hurried up the stairs and flung myself into my room, falling onto my bed and sobbing. Every time my mother was mentioned, I felt like sobbing for hours. Why had God taken her away from me? I loved her so much, more than anything in the world. She was my role model, she was my mother. Why did someone take her away from me. I reached over to the night stand and pulled out a framed picture of me and my mother shortly before she was killed. She was beautiful; like an angel sent down directly from heaven. I hugged this picture to my chest and tried to cease my sobbing, but my heart was aching and I couldn't stop. Finally, after a few minutes, I found myself drifting to sleep. A slide show of images ran though my head of my mother, and soon I was sleeping peacefully.

"Rose?" I heard, and I saw Nicholas standing over me.

"Hmm?" I asked, siting up. It was dark now, and I couldn't see anything around me. Nicholas turned on the lamb by my bedside and helped me up.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, looking around.

"It's around midnight," Nicholas answered. I stood up and yawned. "Are you OK? Dinner was an absolute disaster," he said.

"No, it was fine," I said, going into my dresser to find my pajamas.

"Don't lie Rose, I saw how uncomfortable you got when Annabelle mentioned your mother," Nicholas retorted. I froze for a second, and then continued.

"Yes, it was uncomfortable," I admitted, putting my pajamas on the bed.

"Well, it won't happen again. I promise," he said.

"Thank you," I replied, looking up at him.

"I'll let you get dressed for bed. You have a busy day tomorrow; Annabelle wants to take you shopping for clothes, and we're going to get you enrolled in school," Nicholas listed. I nodded. "Goodnight Rose," he said. He came over to me, kissed my cheek, and walked out of the room, winking before he shut the door. I quickly changed into my pajamas and crawled underneath the covers, ending a whirlwind of a day.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Wake up!" I heard bright and early in the morning. I groaned and looked around, forgetting all that had happened yesterday. When I saw Annabelle standing by my bed, my memory came back.

"Oh," I groaned, rolling onto my back.

"Get up! Come on!" she yelled energetically, ripping the covers off of me. I sat up and looked at my clock that sat beside my bed. It was five in the morning!

"What are you doing? It's five in the morning!" I shrieked, running my fingers through my hair.

"The early bird specials. Come one, get up! I'm taking you shopping so that we overstuff that closet!" she said, pulling me off of the bed. I stumbled to my feet and groaned. She smiled, saw that I was finally getting up, and walked downstairs. I immediately walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, stripped my clothes and got into a cold shower, the water waking me up instantly. I quickly washed my hair and got out, drying off with a warm towel that had been put on the counter top. It was the first semi-hot shower I had taken in a long time, and I felt rejuvenated. I went through my clothes, picked out a nice pair of jeans and a T shirt, put on some makeup, and went downstairs. Annabelle was in the dining room, a big plate of breakfast foods out in front of her.

"Have a seat. You're going to need a big breakfast for today," she said, smiling as I sat down in the chair. The food looked excellent, and I quickly shoveled it down.

"I thought we might hit Amber drive; it's a popular shopping street in New Orleans. And we'd go to Barney's, Charlotte Russe..." she rambled off names of stores I had never heard of, and I nodded to satisfy her. Once she was finished with her meal, we walked outside and got into the car.

"I'm going to show you how to _really _shop!" she said excitedly. I nodded and rested my head against the window, wishing that I could go back to bed. We quickly approached Amber street, and the ladies were standing outside, waiting for the doors to open. Annabelle found a suitable place to park, and we headed over to the crowd.

"Is it always like this?" I asked, looking around at the gathering of women.

"Most days, yes," Annabelle replied, talking as if it were no big thing. The store owner finally arrived to open the doors, and the women swarmed inside, and we followed the crowd.

Throughout most of the day, Annabelle pulled me from one clothing rack to another, and I was thankful that I had good shoes on. We jumped from store to store, not stopping for even ten minutes, and by the end of the day, the trunk and the back seat of the car were filled with shopping bags.

"Well, I must say that we've had quite a successful day," Annabelle said smugly, and I nodded, wanting to crawl into my bed and sleep for the rest of the day. "When we get home, I'll have Nicholas make something for lunch that you'll absolutely die for. He's a wonderful chef."

"He's a chef?" I asked. By the way his office looked, he looked like an accountant of a lawyer.

"Yes, he's a wonderful gourmet chef. He own's his own restaurant on Restaurant Row," she announced proudly.

"That's why you don't have a cook," I said softly. We pulled onto the street and I looked around, the neighborhood feeling so familiar. I did once live in this neighborhood many years ago, but I couldn't remember which house or which street. After Grandmother Beverly gave me electroshock therapy, I couldn't remember much of the less important things of my life; I could only remember the day my mother was killed. _So I guess the electroshock therapy didn't do it's job; I still remember, _I thought.

"Here we are," Annabelle sang as we pulled into the driveway. I fell out of the car because of my sore legs, and opened the back seat door to help take the bags into the house, but Annabelle slapped my hands when I went to reach for a bag.

"That is why we have servants," she said snappishly. I pulled back in surprise and watched as she ordered Richard about, telling him where to put the bags. I thought she was being awfully rude; he was a human being, and she was treating him like an animal. I went inside to avoid the scene and went upstairs into my room, plopping down on my bed and sighing. It was the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in, and since I was so tired, it was even more comfortable. I curled up into a little ball and started to doze off when Annabelle stormed into my room.

"What are you doing? Get up!" She screeched. I jumped off the bed and looked around.

"What do I have to do?" I asked, trying not to seem ungrateful for taking me shopping the whole day.

"At least try on some of the clothes to show Nicholas that this day wasn't wasted," she said as if I were stupid and uncomprehending. I sighed, and shuffled over to my closet, which was almost filled with the clothes we had purchased. One of the maids whose name I hadn't learned yet was hanging up the clothes neatly. I smiled at her and looked at the racks of clothes, randomly picking out an outfit. I went into the bathroom to change my clothes and Annabelle dragged me downstairs.

"Nicholas, can you come here please?" Annabelle asked, poking her head into the kitchen. I stood in the dining room, waiting for them to come out, and once Nicholas saw me, he gasped.

"Rose, you look wonderful," he said, darting his eyes over at his wife.

"Aren't you glad I took her shopping and that I got her out of those dreadful street clothes?" Annabelle pressed, trying to get a few words of compliment out of Nicholas.

"Yes Annabelle darling, a job well done," he said dryly, wiping his hands on a dish rag.

"Go upstairs and try on more outfits Rose, and come down here to show Nicholas," Annabelle ordered in a sweeter tone. I nodded, sighed, and started to march out of the dining room.

"Annabelle, she doesn't have to show me any of these outfits; I'll see them eventually. Just tell her to get into her normal clothes and send her down into the kitchen. I'm sure she's starving after you pulled her from store to store."

"It's for her own good!" Annabelle cried. I hurried into my room to get out of the nice clothes and changed into a pair of jeans and a new T-shirt, and as I was changing, Annabelle came upstairs.

"Nicholas want you to come downstairs and help him in the kitchen," Annabelle said with bitterness in her voice. I nodded and watched as she walked away, mumbling something under her breath. I hurried downstairs and met Nicholas in the kitchen. He was busy chopping up a chicken breast and didn't notice me for a while. He suddenly turned around and jumped.

"You came in so quietly, I didn't hear you," he said with a chuckle. "Come here." I stepped up to the counter. "Chop this. The knives are in the middle drawer." I hurried over, pulled out a knife, and started to chop a head of broccoli he had told me to chop. We were standing there, working silently when a random question popped into my head.

"Nicholas? Why were you so eager to take me in?"

He kept chopping as if nothing had phased him. "I saw a beautiful girl with a lot of potential that needed help. It was my good deed of the day." My heart sank to hear him say that, but when I looked over, I could tell he was just kidding.

"Did you know my mother?" I asked after a few minutes.

"I knew your mother quite well. Annabelle would throw parties often, to announce a new restaurant opening or for a Christmas party, and your mother would always be there. She was beautiful, just like you." I nodded, contemplating the thought.

"I don't mean to have doubts, I was just kinda wondering," I said softly, trying not to hurt him.

"Did you ever meet me? I don't remember ever going to any of these parties," I said, putting the chopped broccoli into a bowl.

"When you were three years old, your mother stopped coming to the parties. I think it was because she needed to concentrate on you instead of going to parties," he concluded, stopping to think of old memories.

"Did you ever know who my father was?" I asked daringly, hoping I would find some clue.

"Your mother was an enchantress. She had many boyfriends over, and was never engaged, so I'm sorry to say that I don't know who he was," he said, turning to look at me. I hid my disappointment and drummed my fingers on the counter.

"Why don't you go to the fridge and pull out some cheese, ravioli, and asparagus?" Nicholas suggested, and I scurried over to the kitchen and pulled out his list of ingredients. I put them on the counter and sighed.

"How long have you been a chef?" I questioned, watching as he shredded some cheese.

"For twenty years," he replied. "I own 4 restaurants and I graduated with high honors in my culinary school."

"Wow," I whispered, leaning against the counter. He started to put a main dish together, and I pulled up a stool to watch. "How long have you been married to Annabelle?"

"Why are you so full of questions?" He asked with a smile. I shrugged.

"I just want to get to know you, that's all. I don't want to be living in a strangers house," I replied. He nodded with reasoning.

"We've been married 20 years," he announced, and I nodded.

"Has Annabelle always been like that?"

"Of course. She has never changed. Always a shopping fiend. She always wanted to be the one noticed for her sense of style; her way to keep up with the styles and trends."

"Where did you go to school? Where did you grow up? I want to know all of it!" I exclaimed with my hands up in the air. He laughed.

"Why? Are you going to write a book on me?" He questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"If your story is good enough," I said, shrugging. Nicholas laughed and nodded.

"Well, if you must know, I was born on May 14, 1956 in New Orleans. I lived in a big house until I was 12, when my father died. My mother and I moved out of the huge house on Penny Street and lived in an apartment with my two brothers. I started to cook when I was 15, because my mother was at work and couldn't make suitable meals for us. After I graduated high school, I started working in a restaurant that was known for it's chefs. I scraped up some money and decided to go to culinary school to pursue a career in culinary arts, and I graduated with high honors in my class. I was funded enough money to open up my own restaurant and now I'm a successful chef and business man."

"When did you meet Annabelle?"

"During my senior year of high school," he answered. "We married two years after that." I nodded and stood up.

"I think I'm going to head up to my room and write a little," I announced, suddenly feeling inspired to pick up my novels again

"Wonderful idea. If you're still hungry, you're welcome to rummage through the fridge," Nicholas announced as I walked out of the kitchen. I shrugged and hurried up the stairs, once again bumping into Zach.

"Sorry," I said with a small laugh. "We seem to bump into each other instead of passing each other."

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and he was shirtless.

"Going to the pool?" I asked, trying to communicate with him a little, since we were living together now.

"Yeah, do you want to come?" he asked. It was the first time he had genuinely smiled at me. I chewed on my lip.

"I don't know how to swim," I mumbled, and he looked at me.

"You don't know how to swim?" He asked, surprised.

"I never had any time," I said, lowering my head.

"Well, go into your room and put on a bathing suit, and I'll teach you how to swim," he offered. My mouth gaped open. "Go on, don't just stand there, get changed!" I ran into my room, rummaged through my drawers, found a suitable bathing suit, and slipped inside of it. I was a little self conscious in a bathing suit, but I tried to put that aside as I followed Zach down to the pool. It was huge; at least 30 yards long with a basketball hoop attached and a beautiful rock waterfall in the corner. Zach immediately jumped in, and I sat beside the side of the pool, waiting.

"Come here," he said, swimming to the shallow end of the pool. I walked over and sat down on the first step, adjusting to the cold water. He shook his head, water droplets falling every where, and smiled. "OK, let's try floating."

"I sink easy," I joked, stepping fully into the pool. He glared at me and ordered me to come toward him.

"It's because of your big brain," he muttered under his breath. I looked at him curiously. "Well it sure isn't because you're fat."

I grinned. "Thank you," I said softly, and I moved around in the water a little bit.

"OK, um, try floating on your back," he said. "I'll be right here so I won't let you drown." I took a deep breath, suddenly and stupidly feeling nervous and I started to arch my back, and lifted up my feet. I took a deep breath, just in case I went under, and I was suddenly floating on my back, staring up at the blue sky.

"Good!" Zach exclaimed, and I smiled while trying to keep myself afloat. "Now try a backstroke. It's like floating but you're just moving backwards using your arms and legs. Do you think you can manage?"

"I guess," I said, feeling the butterflies flitting around in my stomach. I tried to imitate the swimmers on the Olympics when I could watch TV, but I ended up moving to quickly, and I went under the water. My eyes popped open, feeling the unfamiliar burn of chlorine in my eyes as I sank to the bottom, trying to swim up. Zach immediately dove underneath the surface and grabbed me by the waist, pulling us up to the air. I gulped for breath and held on to the side of the pool.

"Hey, are you OK?" Zach asked, gliding over to make sure that I was OK. I nodded, letting some air into my lungs and rested my head against the side. "I'm sorry, I'm not a very good teacher for being a swim buff," he added, scratching the back of his head. Once I had caught my breath, I glided over to him.

"Let's try just normal swimming and breathing," he suggested, and I gladly nodded. After what just happened, I didn't want to end up there again. We spent most of the day swimming around, and I finally picked up on a few things. Nicholas called us in for dinner, and we ran inside, changing into some suitable clothing and heading downstairs. Annabelle was seated at herplace at the table,obviously perturbed.

"What were you doing all day?" she asked Zach, completely ignoring me as I sat down at the table.

"I was teaching Rose how to swim. She didn't know how," Zach answered, curious as to why his own mother was mad at him.

"You shouldn't be teaching her all of those...athletic things. She'll be strong and have muscles which will take away from her femininity," Annabelle snapped, glaring at her son.

"Oh hush Annabelle, it's a healthy sport and if Rose likes to do it, then you should let her do it," Nicholas interjected as he entered the dining room. Annabelle shot an evil glare at him and shot a look at me. Easily intimidated, I turned away from her gaze. We immediately went into eating dinner, having some light conversation being bounced back and forth between each other before I excused myself.

"I'm sorry, dinner was wonderful, but I'm full and I'm exhausted from the day in the pool," I said, putting my napkin on my plate.

"You're excused dear," Nicholas said, and I hurried from the table to head up into my room to wash my hair and to change into pajamas. Just as I was getting ready for bed, Zach knocked on my door.

"Hey, you did really great out there today," he complimented with a smile. I beamed. "After school tomorrow, we can go back out there if you want."

"After school?" I asked. It was only the beginning of August and school wouldn't be starting for a while.

"Yes, the first day is tomorrow. Didn't my dad tell you that?" Zach asked curiously, leaning against the doorframe. I shook my head.

"No, maybe he forgot to mention it," I thought out loud. Zach shrugged.

"You'll be going to a private school; it's one of the best," he announced.

"Is it nice?" I asked. I prayed inside that I was going to like this school, because my time at the Academy wasn't so glorious.

"Yeah, it's alright. I think you'd like it," he mumbled, and I managed a faint smile.

"You'll need to get some rest; it's a long trip to the school and Mom wakes us up at the crack of dawn; no joke," he said with a chuckle. I laughed and nodded, pulling back my covers.

"Goodnight Rose," he said, and he shut the door. I crawled into bed and sank under the covers, feeling exhausted from the day. I immediately went to sleep, having a nightmare that often occurred.

"_Rosalyn, come on, we have to go," Grandma said, taking my hand and pulling me down the stairs. My tiny feet pitter-pattered on the floor. _

"_Where are we going Grandma?" I asked in a near whisper. She lowered her head to look at me eye to eye. _

"_We're going to see a psychiatrist to help you," she said, trying to help me understand. _

"_What's that?" I asked, trying to sound out the word I couldn't pronounce. She stopped, realized that she was talking to a four year old, and sighed. _

"_It someone that's going to help you about what happened to Mommy," she said, taking my coat from the butler and slipping my arms into it. _

"_What's happened to Mommy?" I asked, leaning my head to the side. Grandma paused, and turned to me. I always saw that face when I mentioned my mother; a mixture of fear, shock and disbelief on her face. She quickly shook it off and smiled. _

"_Mommy is in heaven now," she said, nodding to the butler and he opened the door for us. _

"_How come?" I asked softly. I looked up at Grandma and saw that she was somewhat happy because it was the first time that I had talked in at least two months, but annoyed that I was asking so many questions. _

"_Because God wanted her up in Heaven to write him wonderful stories," she said shortly, and we got into the backseat of the Rolls Royce my Grandmother owned. I looked around the interior, always in awe of what was around me. There was always something to intrigue my imagination, and I stared out the window the whole ride to the psychiatrists office. Once we arrived, we entered into a small, boring white building and were escorted by two doctors. _

"_Hello Rosalyn. My name is Dr. Meeker," one of the doctors said, introducing himself. I smiled. He was a very handsome man and I liked him off the bat. "Do you want a lollipop?" He asked, pulling one out of his breast pocket. It was grape, my favorite flavor, and I snatched it from his hand and ripped off the wrapper. _

"_Rosalyn, say please and thank you," Grandma snapped, annoyed that I forgot how to use my manors. _

"_Please and thank you," I said, popping the sucker into my mouth and holding tight to the stick. He smiled and looked up at my Grandmother. _

"_She's a sweet child," he said. _

"_It's the first time she's talked in two months," Grandmother announced, looking down at me. I blinked my innocent eyes at her and she gave me a light smile. _

"_Well, shall we proceed this way then?" Dr. Meeker asked, and he took my hand and we walked down the long hallways. _

"_Have there been any new developments?" The doctor asked. Grandma nodded. _

"_Well, she talked for the first time since that day, but she's completely forgotten what happened. She asks for her mother in her sleep, and she talks as if nothing has happened to her; as if she has simply disappeared," Grandma said as we walked down the hallway. I looked up at the doctor, and he gave me a big enthusiastic smile. "Are you sure this treatment is necessary?"_

"_We've out ruled all of the other options. This way is the sure way to eliminate this horrible thing from her mind."_

"_But she's very young. Won't she eventually learn how to put this behind her?" _

"_This event has had a very large effect on her. She wont eat, talk; she has nightmares about it, and she's forgetting about random events. If Rosalyn doesn't have this treatment, her emotional and mental well being **will **deteriorate._ _This is the only option. If money is the problem..."_

"_No, money isn't the problem," Grandma said thoughtfully, looking at the ground as she walked. "If you think this is the only way out, then I trust you."_

"_Wonderful," he said with a smile. "Do you hear that Rosalyn? You're going to get better!" He exclaimed. I continued to suck on my purple sucker and we still walked down the corridor until we stopped at the last door of the hall. Dr. Meeker punched in a code in a pad next to the door, and the doors open, and I looked around. The walls were bare white, and there wasn't very much lighting the room. It was round; the center of the room was round with glass barriers. A huge white chair like a dentists chair sat in the middle, and a huge white computer sat next to it. Men were working in the outer ring, typing on computers and reading charts. Dr. Meeker sense I was scared of this room, and he squeezed my hand. _

"_It's okay," he said softly, looking around at his co workers. Grandmother saw the terrified expression on my face and she turned to the doctor. _

"_How are you going to explain this to a five year old?" She asked, pulling her toward me. I wrapped my arms around her legs and sucked on my lollipop. Dr. Meeker gave her a quick glare and he stooped down to my level. I hovered closer to Grandmother Beverly. _

"_Rosalyn, look at me for a minute," he ordered gently, but I kept my eyes closed and I kept my face turned away from him. He knew I wasn't going to respond to him, so he sighed and touched my arm. I pulled it away. "What we're going to do is we're going to put you in that chair there, and we're going to strap you in to make sure that you don't fall out, and we're going to hook up little plugs to your brain. And then little lightning bolts are going to travel through those plugs into your brain, and you're going to forget what happened that day that you're-"_

"_Stop!" My Grandmother yelled in mid sentence. Dr. Meeker stopped his tongue, smiled and took my hand again. I wanted to snatch it away from him, but Grandmother gave me a reassuring nod and I followed the doctor into the middle of the room. Grandmother stayed behind, and I reached out for her, but she shook her head and nodded toward the chair. Dr. Meeker hoisted me up into the chair and started to strap me down into the seat. Panic started to rise inside of me, and I tried to get out of the chair, but the he had strapped me in tight. Grandmother stood in the outer ring of the room, lightly mopping her eyes with her handkerchief. The lights dimmed, and I was terrified of the dark. Nurses entered the room and started to put the plugs onto my head, and at that moment, I suddenly saw what fate had done to my mother. I started to scream for her, my dead mother but the nurses ignored my pleas._

"_Grandma!" I cried, my little hand reaching out to touch her. She turned away, her shoulders shaking with heavy sobs and I burst out into tears. _

"_Stop! Don't!" I yelled, kicking and fighting my way out of the chair, but it was fighting a losing battle. They put a leather strap into my mouth for reasons I didn't know, and the nurses and Dr. Meeker left the room. They put on dark goggles to protect their eyes, and I started screaming. The lights went dark except for a spotlight on me, and that was when the electricity came. It jolted my brain, and I went into seizure_s_ one after another. I could hear the roar of the sirens, my Grandmother's scream, my own yelling against the machine, and suddenly, all went black._

"Rose! Rose!" Nicholas was screaming in my ear. I sat up and looked around the room, expecting to be strapped into the chair and having the plugs on my temples. I was covered in sweat, and I found that I was out of breath. "You were having a nightmare," Nicholas said, and I caught my breath and nodded. "What was it about?"

"Oh, uh, I was dreaming about drowning," I lied, wiping my forehead of excess sweat. He nodded and rubbed my shoulder.

"Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered, closing my eyes.

"Get some rest, you have a big day tomorrow," he said, walking toward the door.

"Yeah, I know," I said bitterly, remembering that he hadn't told me that I was going to school. He smiled, shut the door, and I lay back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

I didn't get much sleep after that.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After I woke up from my horrible nightmare, I only slept for an hour after that. Annabelle came into my room to wake me up around 6, and I was glad she didn't wake me up like she did yesterday.

"Rose, wake up, you have to get ready for school," she said softly, lightly shaking my shoulders. I immediately sat up, knowing that if I rolled over, I would go right back to sleep. I went into the shower and tried to wake myself up, and thankfully, it did. I picked out one of the new outfits; a pretty floral summer dress. I started to get dressed, pulled out the curling iron and decided to curl my hair just for added look. I was nervous, because it was be the first time that I would be going back to a private school, and I didn't know what to expect. Nicholas knocked on the door to call me down to breakfast.

"Breakfast is ready," he announced. He saw what I was wearing and he grinned. "You look very nice."

"Thank you," I said timidly. I put on a pair of sandals and headed downstairs to the dining room. Zach was already dressed, in a school uniform, eating breakfast. He smiled when he saw me, and then continued to eat.

"Do they have uniforms?" I asked, sitting down at my place at the dining table.

"Yes, oh, I forgot to tell you that. Don't worry, they'll have one for you there," Nicholas said, sitting at the head of the table.

"I know," I muttered under my breath, hoping that he didn't hear me. He smiled and started to serve breakfast.

"Are you excited Rose?" Annabelle asked, reading a fashion magazine as she daintily picked at her food.

"Yes, and nervous," I answered, taking a sip of orange juice. I could hardly eat; I only got about four hours of sleep and I wasn't very hungry. Once everyone finished their meals, we headed out to the car.

"I'll be taking you to school today, but after today Richard will be taking you. Maybe one of these days we'll take you to get your drivers license and you can drive yourself," Nicholas said, sitting in the drivers seat. Zach and I crawled into the backseat and waited until we arrived at the school. My stomach was tying itself into knots before we arrived, and once we got there, I thought I was going to be sick. But I told myself that it wasn't going to be too bad, and I walked into the administration building with pride. Nicholas directed us to the principal and we took a seat in his office.

"Nicholas, it's been a while," the principal said, shaking hands with Nicholas. "This must be her."

"Yes, this is Rose Clairmont. Rose, this is the principal, Mr. Harold Montgomery," Nicholas introduced. I shook his hand, and his fingers lingered. I pulled it away with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. "Welcome to the Montgomery Academy. I think you'll enjoy your stay here."

"I'm sure I will," I said softly. He smiled and handed me a guidebook.

"Here is a book with all of the school rules and guidelines. You don't have to memorize it, but I would like it if you looked it over. Here is your school uniform; hopefully it fits you well," he said, handing me the pile of clothes. I looked them over and smiled. "Here is your schedule, a school map, and a list of activities that you might want to look into. I hope your year at Montgomery will be enjoyable. If you need anything, please don't be afraid to come to my office, I'll gladly help you in any way I can."

"Thank you very much," I said. I looked at my schedule and saw that I was going to be in eleventh grade, which I was supposed to be. We stood up and left his office, Mr. Montgomery smiling as I walked away.

"You should probably go and change into that uniform," Nicholas suggested. I nodded, handing him the other things that I had, and I found the nearest bathroom, and slipped into the uniform. It was a blue plaid skirt with a navy blue blazer and a white shirt underneath. The skirt was a little short, but it wasn't to bad. I handed my summer dress to Nicholas, and he went out to the car to get my backpack.

"Here you go. Have a good day. Call me if you need anything," Nicholas said with a sigh, handing me a slip of paper with his phone number on it. He leaned over, kissed my cheek, and walked toward the door. I turned to Zach.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," I said, shaking my head. He ripped my schedule from my hand and glanced at it.

"We have a lot of the same classes together. Just follow me and you'll be fine," he ordered, and he started to walk down the hall. I chased after him and walked beside him. Some of the other students were arriving and they gave me odd looks as I walked down the halls next to Zach.

"Why are they looking at me so strangely?" I asked Zach as we neared his locker.

"It's because you're new. Most of the students here know what's going on, like if there's going to be a new student, but obviously the word didn't get around," he said with a shrug. "And it's because I'm so popular."

I laughed. "Sure."

He gasped. "I am. I'm on the swim team, the basketball team and I'm extremely good looking," he said with pride. I giggled and looked up the combination to my locker. I quickly opened it and put the guideline book inside.

"You ready? OK, First class, English," he said with disappointment. I grabbed the straps of my backpack and headed down the hallway, walking toward class.

"Good morning class, my name is Mr. Halloway, and I'll be your English teacher this year," he announced. "We'll be starting off this year with a writing project; a memoir, and then we'll be doing a poetry unit, and then a little bit of Shakespeare..." He continued to list the things that we were going to do this year, and I smiled. I was going to like this school after all.

The first four classes passed by like a breeze, and finally, lunch came along. I was nervous, wondering if I would have to sit alone the first day, but Zach walked up to me in the lunch line.

"My friends are dying to meet you," he said, picking up a tray.

"Why?" I questioned. _I wasn't that interesting_.

"They think you're the best thing that has happened at this school," he said with a chuckle. I raised my eyebrow.

"OK then, save me a seat," I said, putting various foods onto my tray. It didn't look to appetizing, but I was hungry. I followed Zach to his table after paying for my lunch, and a bunch of his friends were lightly talking to each other. When I sat down, they smiled.

"Guys, this is Rose. She's living with me," Zach announced. It wasn't the best introduction, but it was alright with me. Everyone waved, and Zach matched names to faces.

"Rose! Rose!" I heard from behind me, and I turned around to see who was calling me. A tall, blonde girl with fair skin and brown eyes was waving at me. Instantly, it was a voice that I could never forget. It was Nicole Arden, my best friend from the Poitier Academy.

"Nicole!" I exclaimed, flying out of my seat to run over to her. The guys at the table let out a girlish giggle and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Oh my goodness... I can't believe this. I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been!" Nicole asked.

"I've been...me," I answered truthfully.

"Hey, why did you leave the academy?" Nicole asked. I had a seat back at the table and sighed.

"My Grandmother died. She was the one paying the tuition, and after she died, there was no one else in my family that could pay, so I had to leave," I said, shrugging.

"Wow, I'm really sorry," Nicole said, sighing sadly.

"It was years ago," I answered. "So, enough about that, what have you been doing these past few years?"

"Well," she said with a laugh. She started to tell her life story, and it reminded me of the times back at the Academy. We would be sitting in the lunchroom, and Nicole would be blabbing away about something pointless. It brought a smile to my face.

"OK, now it's your turn. What have you been up to?" She asked, propping herself up on the table. I started to look around at all of the boys that were looking at me, and my eyes landed on one particular boy. He was tall and thick, with the prettiest green-brown eyes I had ever seen. He had light brown, messy hair and black framed glasses. I sat there, staring at him because he was one of the most attractive boys that I had ever seen.

"Rose!" Nicole screeched in my ear, dragging me out of my dreamland.

"Oh, sorry," I said, and began to explain what happened the last few years. Finally, the bell rang, and Zach and I walked together to our next class.

"It's official; my friends are in love with you," Zach announced, and I laughed.

"Who was that boy with the glasses?" I asked as we entered math.

"Oh, that's Stephen Burns. He's an outcast. Nice guy though. Why?" Zach asked suspiciously as we took our seats.

"Oh, no reason," I said quickly, trying to keep myself occupied by flipping through the math textbook. He raised his eyebrow and shook his head. During the class, I found myself thinking about Stephen constantly. He was permanently imprinted in my mind and I had a hard time concentrating in class. Finally, the last two classes of the day passed, and Zach and waited outside of the school for Nicholas to pick us up.

"Rose!" Nicholas cried as he ran up to me. He kissed my cheek and we walked back to the car.

"How was your first day?" Nicholas asked as he got into the car.

"It was great," I said, looking over at Zach. Nicholas had completely ignored him, and I suddenly felt back. I felt like I was taking away the spotlight from Zach and that he was being pushed away, and I was replacing him. I felt like an interruption in their life. Zach looked over at me and pulled out his cellphone, and didn't care that his father hadn't said anything to him. I rested my head against the window and stared outside of it until we got home. Just as we were pulling into the driveway, Richard was pulling out bags from Annabelle's trunk. Annabelle was standing close by, watching like a hawk.

"Hello dear," Nicholas said as he got out of the car. "Another shopping trip?" He walked over to her and automatically kissed her on the cheek. As I watched that, I could tell that it was void of love, just duty.

"Yes. I decided that we needed to re-decorate a little bit. I plan on having a banquet soon," she announced. "We needed new things anyway. I swear, if Tiffany Levinson recognizes that Tiffany lamp in the den after I told her that I re-decorated, I'll have a complete meltdown," Annabelle said with great distress. I would have laughed if she were joking, but she was dead serious. Zach stifled his laughed and went inside the house to drop his things off. I followed him inside and dropped my backpack on to the floor. A sudden image of Stephen popped in my head, and I smiled. It reminded me of when I was back at the Academy, and I had a crush on Jonathan Sites. I felt thirteen again, and I felt great. Zach came into my room and I wiped my silly grin off of my face.

"So, do you want to swim first, and then eat? Or Vice Versa?" Zach asked. I shrugged.

"Let's swim first," I decided. I went to my dresser to find a bathing suit, and Zach had left the room. I quickly changed and went downstairs to the pool and saw that Zach had beat me to it. He was doing laps back and forth across the pool and didn't realize that I was there until 5 minutes later.

"You scared the hell out of me," he said, wiping his eyes. I smiled and went to the other end of the pool and started to get in.

"Ok, shall we get started?" Zach asked. I nodded, and he started to show me how to do laps in the pool. I started doing some, and after the fist lap, Zach's phone rang.

"Hold on," he said, and I leaned against the pool and waited.

"Who was it?" I asked when the conversation was done.

"It was Danny. He and a few friends want to come over and they want you to come and hang out with us."

"When are they coming over?" I asked. He started to dry off.

"Right now," Zach answered. I scrambled out of the pool and started to dry off. "Hey, where's the fire?"

"They're on their way!" I cried, running into the house and bolting upstairs. "I'm a mess."

"You look fine," Zach said as we entered my room.

"I look horrible! My makeup is running all down my face, and my hair is ratty because of the chlorine," I said, going into the bathroom to start the shower.

"OK _Annabelle_," Zach said, and I stopped in mid-step. I glared at him, knowing that it was an insult.

"Am I really that bad?" I asked softly, lightly hitting my thighs.

"For a minute, you sounded just like her younger version," Zach replied. I sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just want to make a good impression on your friends," I said quietly, laying out an outfit on my bed.

"Rose, you had them at hello. Just be yourself. I don't who you are when you are yourself, but just be you," Zach ordered with a nod. He left the room, and I quickly hopped into the shower and washed my hair. I got out of the shower, got dressed in a pair of jeans and a cute shirt, put on makeup, and let my hair dry before I went downstairs. They were all waiting in the foyer, and all heads turned toward me as I was walking down the stairs. Just as I had hoped, Stephen was there, smiling up at me. I tried to remain calm as my heart pounded furiously against my chest. I walked over to Zach and stood next to him, shoving my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.

"Hi," I said timidly, looking at the floor.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Zach asked, looking around the house.

"Let's go out to a movie, or we could just drive around," Andrew said.

"Let's show Rose the better side of New Orleans," Danny offered. Zach frowned.

"Guys, remember it's a school night," Zach said. Everyone laughed.

"OK Dad," Andrew said with a chuckle. "C'mon Rose, you can ride with me," Andrew added, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the front door. Zach grabbed my free arm and yanked me toward him.

"She rides with me," Zach grumbled. Andrew looked surprised.

"OK dude, calm down," Andrew said. He turned around and picked a few people to go into his car, and Zach did the same.

"Sorry, I just don't want you riding with him," Zach declared. I nodded, realizing how strong Zach really was, and I looked at the group that Zach had picked. It was Danny, Daryl and Stephen. My heart leapt for joy when I saw that he was going along.

"Shotgun!" I called girlishly, running toward the front door. Everyone erupted into light laughter as I went out to the driveway and waited for Zach to pull his car out of the driveway. It was a brand new Ford Mustang, and it was dark blue. Zach unlocked the doors and we all piled in.

"Where are we going?" Danny asked.

"I guess to lover's lane. I dunno, I'm just gonna follow Andrew," Zach said, revving the engine. Andrew and his group zoomed down the street and we stayed close behind him.

"You ever been in a sports car Rosie?" Danny asked, leaning forward to look at me.

"No," I said, looking over at Zach.

"Come on Zach, rev it up for her!" Danny yelled, turning up the radio.

"No way man. Last time I did that with you guys, I got a ticket for speeding," Zach said, shaking his head.

"Do it later then," Danny demanded and sat back. I glanced into the back seat of the car and saw Stephen smiling at me. I smiled back and waited until we arrived at our destination. We all climbed out of the cars and Andrew had created a bon fire and we all sat around. Everyone started their own conversations, and I went to the car to get my jacket because it was a breezy night. Stephen was leaning against the side of Zach's car, looking at the sunset.

"How come you're not with everyone else?" I asked him, putting my arms into the jacket. He shrugged.

"All they talk about is basketball and girls," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. I stood next to him.

"You're not interested in that?" I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Not really. I'd rather talk about something important," he said with a shrug.

"Like?" I questioned.

"Like, TV, or something."

"What's your favorite show?"

"8 simple rules," he said, and I laughed. We talked for a long time about just random stuff, and I really had a great time. The guys sitting around the bon fire didn't even notice we were gone until someone pulled out a twelve pack of beer and started to drink. Zach didn't have one; he was driving, but he also didn't drink. Everyone started having a good time until someone saw headlights traveling this way.

"Hey, guys, we better get out of here," Andrew yelled as he tried to stand up and go to his car. His attempt failed, because he dropped to the ground and started to laugh. Everyone scrambled into their cars after putting out the bonfire and started to speed around the corner. I shrieked, fearing that we were going to plummet off the edge, but Zach turned the car in the other direction. I quickly clicked on my seatbelt and turned my head to look behind us. Red and blue flashing lights were following behind us, not close enough to see the license plate, but close enough to catch up. I looked over at Zach, who smiled nervously and sped up around the corner.

"Where are we going?" I asked, not remembering how we go up here.

"There's another entrance up around here," Zach said angrily, wishing that Andrew would go faster. He was swerving all over the road, obviously intoxicated, and I prayed silently that we would all get out of here alive. The police car swung around the corner behind us and started to catch up, but there was an opportunity to escape. Andrew's car suddenly halted in front of us, and Zach swore out loud.

"What the hell is he doing?" He yelled, gesturing his hands at the car angrily. Zach stomped on the brakes and tried to find away around him. Zach's phone rang and he answered it.

"What?" He snapped, edging closer to the car.

"Dude, Andrew's passed out," I heard through the phone.

"Dammit," Zach hissed. "Get him out of the drivers seat and pull the car over or something, I need to get through!" He added. I turned around to see how close the police were, and I couldn't see them around the corner. Zach closed his phone, shoved it into his pockets and waited impatiently as someone got into the drivers seat and moved the car over. Zach waved at them as we passed by in a torrent of dirt and he floored the gas pedal, going 80 as we sped down the dirt trail. My heart was racing so far I thought I might have a heart attack because every turn was sharp, and Zach wouldn't slow down at the turns.

"Zach, slow down!" Danny yelled at him. I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes. In the distance, I could hear the siren of the police car following us. We finally were back onto solid pavement, and Zach sped down the road, turning a few sharp corners to lose the officer's trail. It had turned into night now, and in the distance you could see the glow of the officers lights. We were nowhere near the house, and Zach had to think quickly. We turned into a private neighborhood drive and pulled onto the side of the road that was covered with thick bushes and long trees. Zach turned off his headlights and then engine and waited. I sighed with relief when we stopped moving, and I turned around to look at Stephen. He looked a little shaken, but he flashed me a comforting smile. Danny and Daryl started to talk in the back seat, and Zach hissed at them to shut up as the police car drove by. His lights and siren were off, and we all ducked down in our seats. I could hear him drive by, stopping the car to look around for Zach's car, but when he didn't find us, he turned around and went the other direction. We waited a few minutes after that, and Zach started the car and sped off down the street.

"Why are we going down this way?" Daryl asked as Zach concentrated on the road.

"Because he's a stupid cop, and he's wait at the entrance of the street for us to come out," Zach answered, and I nodded in agreement. "Besides, this way is shorter." Zach's phone rang, and he answered it quickly.

"Hello?" He asked. "Great. Is he Okay? Did you guys get out of there alright? Meet me back at my house; I'll drive him home." Zach closed his phone and sighed.

"They got out of there okay, but Andrew's passed out. They pulled over to fake the cops out, and they sped away. He's probably got their license plate number, so now they're in trouble," Zach announced to the caravan. I sighed. I certainly hoped that this didn't happen all the time. After a few minutes of driving, we finally arrived at the house and Zach pulled his Mustang in the garage just in case. Everyone got of the car, my knees wobbling as I stepped out of the car.

"Go inside and go to bed. If Mom and Dad ask about what we did tonight, say that we went over to Andrew's and hung out or something," Zach ordered as the other car pulled up. I looked at Stephen, said a quick goodbye to him and went inside the house, hoping not to come into contact with either Annabelle or Nicholas.

"Rose!" I heard from behind me, and I paused, slowly turning around to see Nicholas coming out of his study.

"Hi," I said quickly, flashing a fake smile.

"What did you guys do tonight?" He asked, looking around to see if Zach was around.

"Oh, we went over to Andrew's house and we played pool and just hung out," I lied quickly, hoping that I wasn't seeming too nervous.

"Oh, sounds fun. Where's Zach?" Nicholas asked curiously. My mind drew a blank._ What was I going to tell him?_

"Oh, he's outside. I think that he said he was going to go to Andrew's house to pick up something," I said as carelessly as I could. Nicholas nodded.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Long day," I said, heading toward the stairs. "Goodnight." I reached my door and ran inside of my room, slamming the door and jumping on my bed. My hands were slightly shaking and I couldn't breathe very well, and I laid down on my bed and sighed. I realized that I had neglected some of the homework that I had, and I started to work on that, realizing that it was almost ten. I changed into my pajamas, crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately, trying to keep my mind focused on the events that happened tonight instead of the re-occurring dream I had last night.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Things started to go very smoothly after the first day of school. I started fitting in with people; something that I had not achieved over at the Academy, and my teachers were somewhat enjoyable. Mr. Halloway, my English teacher, was the best teacher I had ever had in all of my years of schooling. He was fun, humourous, and we connected because of our interest of writing.

"Miss Clairmont, would you stay after class for a few minutes?" Mr. Halloway asked me. I nodded, instantly starting to worry. Had I done something wrong? I always started to worry like this, because every time that I had been held after class, it was because something was wrong. I waited until the bell rang and then walked up to Mr. Halloway's desk. He looked up and smiled and waited for the rest of the class to leave.

"I read your paper," he announced with a soft smile. I chewed on my lip nervously.

"I did that bad?" I asked, putting my hands behind my back. Mr. Halloway leaned back in his seat and let out a hearty laughed. I flashed a confused look over in his direction.

"Far from it," he said when he was finished with his laugh. "Rose, this is the best paper out of all of my students. You have an incredible writing style; I thought I was reading a excerpt from a novel!" He cried, his smile bright and wide. My heart beat faster and I grinned. "Have you ever considered writing?"

"Yes. I have some unfinished novels at home," I said, rocking back and forth on my heels. Some of the students for the next class started to empty the room, but Mr. Halloway paid them no attention.

"Would you bring them in for me? I would love to read them," he asked, folding his hands underneath his chin.

"Sure. They're fiction though," I pointed out. He shrugged.

"I'm looking for a new read anyway," he said with a bright smile. I grinned and nodded.

"You know, we actually have a writing club that meets after school. The next one is this Friday. Why don't you come? It'll be fun," Mr. Halloway said. I nodded, knowing that I didn't have any plans that day. "Great. I'll write you a pass so that you're not late to class." I sighed, glad that I wasn't going to be reprimanded for a bad grade or something of the sort. Mr. Halloway handed me a late pass and I slowly walked to my next class, passing Stephen on the way. We both gave each other smiles as we walked past each other, and my heart thumped nervously in my chest and my cheeks felt as if they were on fire. Everyone was commenting on how good we looked together, or that we should be going out. I was still to shy to break out of my shell and ask someone to be my boyfriend, but my new friends were helping me gather my socials skills together. I walked into American history, handed the teacher my late pass and slipped into my seat, Nicole questioning where I was.

"Talking to Mr. Halloway," I mumbled as I started the assignment he had given us. Nicole shrugged and continued to work.

"Are you going to ask Stephen out today?" Nicole asked later with a coy smile on her face.

"I don't know," I whispered harshly, trying to concentrate.

"I think you should ask him at lunch. I can tell you guys really like each other," Nicole whispered back, keeping her eyes on the teacher.

"I don't know how. I'm too shy," I replied, turning the pages in my textbook. I heard her exasperated sigh behind me.

"It's really not that complicated. 'Stephen, I really like you a lot. Would you be my boyfriend?' See, that wasn't hard," Nicole answered as the class started to talk.

"It is for me. I'm not like that," I said impatiently. I wish I could be more open with my feelings, I thought with a sigh.

"Well, if you don't do it, I will," Nicole threatened, and I spun around in my chair to face her.

"No, please don't do that," I pleaded desperately. If I had learned anything about boys and relationships, it was to never let your best friend do the asking. "I'll do it," I mumbled.

"Good," Nicole said. "It was about time." The teacher yelled at the class for being so loud, and I returned to my assignment. Stephen was now on my mind, and I couldn't get him out of it. By the end of the day, I could be his girlfriend, unless he likes someone else, I thought desperately. I pushed the thought out of my mind and finished the work.

Lunch approached quicker that I would have liked, and I found that Stephen and I were sitting together, eating lunch and watching Andrew do some stupid dance around the table. Everyone erupted into laughter, and suddenly without realizing, my head was resting onto Stephen's shoulder. _What am I doing!_

"Stephen," I mumbled, mustering up enough courage to say a few simple words. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" I could hardly manage saying the words, but they came out of my mouth, and there was nothing that I could do now.

"Sure, I guess," he said, biting into his peanut sandwich. I blinked. Had he said yes? I sat up, looked at Nicole, and I smiled. I had a boyfriend now.

The end of school approached, and I sighed, waiting up for Zach after school. I was thinking about Stephen once again, when Zach zoomed toward me.

"Hey," he said, out of breath. "I wanted to tell you before I left. There's this really important fight after school, so I'm not going to be riding home with you today. Are you going to be OK with that?" Zach asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, it's fine. I'm not your mother, you don't have to run things by me," I answered. He smiled, gave me a brief hug, and then ran off in the direction. I sighed and pulled out my phone which Nicholas has recently purchased for me and decided to call Richard. I told him that he didn't have to pick me from school today; that I would be walking around.

"Are you sure miss? Bad things happen around there," Richard said with some concern in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine. Can I call you when I'm ready to be picked up?"

"Of course miss," he said, and I hung up the phone. I wanted to walk around where the school was located, to get to know the area, and to clear my head. I started walking down the street, seeing a pizza place at the end of the street, and suddenly, I saw Stephen run next to me.

"Hi," he said with a smile, readjusting his backpack.

"Hey," I said with a big grin.

"I didn't know that you walked."

"I don't, I just decided to get to know the area around the school and stuff," I said with a shrug. "Do you walk?"

"No. I walk up to the end of the intersection and wait for the bus to pick me up," Stephen said.

"You take the bus?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm not one of the richest kids in the school," Stephen said with a little resentment. I felt bad because I had a driver to pick me up and take me wherever I wanted. There were a few seconds of silence between us, and I turned to him.

"Do you have Mr. Halloway as an English teacher?" I asked.

"No, I don't. I have Mrs. Armenta. She's not the greatest. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering about this writing club that's after school, that's all," I said, staring down at my feet.

"Why? Are you in it? I haven't seen you in those meetings before," Stephen questioned.

"No. Mr. Halloway mentioned it to me today. He wants me to join."

"It's actually pretty cool. I didn't know that you wrote."

"I don't tell everyone that. And besides, I'm not that good," I replied, a tint of pink flushing into my cheeks.

"I'm sure you can. Maybe afterwards, we could go get lunch or something?" He asked. I looked into his eye and I could tell that it was his first time asking someone out on a date, and I smiled understandingly.

"That would be great," I said with a broad smile. He seemed to relax after that and we started talking about writing. Once we approached the intersection, he said goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, stepping onto the bus. I waved at him and watched as the bus pulled away from the stop, and I went into the pizza place to buy something to drink. I couldn't stop grinning because of what Stephen and I were talking about. We had a common interest, and my heart melted at the thought of that. After enjoying my soft drink, I called Richard to have him come and pick me up.

"Have a good day miss?" He asked as I entered the car. I was the only person that Richard would ever start a conversation with, and I smiled.

"Wonderful," I said dreamily, thinking of Stephen's soft smile. Richard nodded and sped down the street.

"Mr. And Mrs. Fugue are home. They've been wondering where you are," Richard announced. I panicked inside.

"Have they been worrying?" I asked.

"I believe so. They started to get into a scuffle about it," Richard said, and I groaned.

"Great," I muttered. We arrived at the house, and just as Richard was turning off the car, Nicholas and Annabelle ran out to greet me.

"Where have you been?" Annabelle cried with frustration. I looked at Nicholas, who looked grim.

"I wanted to take a walk around the area, that's all," I said. "I called Richard and told him not to pick me up."

"We know that," she snapped. I looked at Nicholas, who just side. Annabelle grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

"If you're going to do something like this again, you either call me or Nicholas," Annabelle hissed, her dark eyes burning.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to call Richard before he left the house."

"Don't worry about him, we're your guardians," she screeched. "Now go upstairs and start on your schoolwork," she ordered, releasing my arm and pushing me toward the stairs. I tried to fight tears back and I ran upstairs into my room to start on my schoolwork. Like the first day I had arrived here, Nicholas and Annabelle were arguing downstairs.

"This will not happen again," she said threateningly to Nicholas.

"Annabelle, you're overreacting. She called someone, and she let them know that she was going somewhere."

"Yes, but she didn't call us! Her guardians!" She threw back at him. "You and your charity," she spat.

"She's not charity," Nicholas roared.

"Oh, she's not? You picked her up off of the streets, offered her our home, our life. Everything we have!" Tears formed in my eyes, and I wanted to stop listening to this conversation, but I couldn't drag myself away from the door. "She's going to be a typical run down teenager. She's going to rebel against us, and if she does, I will have her thrown out onto the streets when she came from."

"Annabelle, if you say one more mean, hurtful thing about her, I swear to God, I'll cancel every credit card you own and freeze your accounts," Nicholas threatened. I heard Annabelle's sharp gasp and there was silence.

"You wouldn't," she finally said.

"I would."

"I should have left you years ago, after what you did to me!" she sobbed, running up the stairs. I flew away from the door a buried myself into my homework, listening as I heard Nicholas' heavy footsteps walking past my door. I sighed, my heart sinking into my stomach. Somehow, I was always causing trouble where I lived, and I had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time that I would be. I finished my light load of homework, and started to write in one of my novels. It was about a young girl who was psychic and tried to prevent the deaths of her friends. _The Blood Path_ was one of my greatest works yet, and I was extremely proud of it. I heard a knocking on my door a few minutes later, and Zach stepped inside of my room.

"What happened today?" Zach asked, somehow knowing that a scene had happened in the Fugue household.

"I called Richard after you left to tell him that he didn't need to pick me up, that I was going to be walking around the area. Apparently I needed to call Annabelle or Nicholas to let them know where I was going and who I was going to be with, and now I'm a typical rebellious teenager," I said bitterly, hearing Annabelle's words inside of my head. Zach chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I questioned, sitting up straighter.

"My mother gives empty threats all of time. You shouldn't take her so seriously. You don't know how many times she's threatened to throw me out of the house because I was a few minutes late or I did something that she didn't like. She's a drama queen, don't mind her," Zach advised. I suddenly felt stupid for believing her, but inside I could tell that she was serious. "So, what happened with Stephen?"

My head snapped up and I looked at him. How did he know?

"Word travels fast with my friends," Zach announced.

"I asked him out today," I mumbled, and Zach smiled.

"That's nice. I could tell you guys like each other. My friends are a little sad about it though," Zach announced with a sly grin on his face. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I stood up.

"I'm going to go talk to Nicholas," I said, walking past him. Zach laughed from behind me and went down to his room. I found Nicholas in the kitchen, ferociously chopping an onion.

"Nicholas," I said softly, and he raised his head, dropping the knife on the counter.

"Rose," he said softly, plastering a fake smile onto his lips. I could tell that he was furious about the argument and I hoped that he wasn't mad at me. "Did you overhear the argument?"

"Yes," I admitted. "That's what I came down here for, to talk about it," I said, sitting on one of the bar stools.

"Don't listen to her, she says things that she doesn't mean," Nicholas said, chopping another onion.

"I know that I shouldn't, but sometimes I can't help but think that I've entered your lives, and I've changed them," I admitted, looking down at the floor.

"Rose, don't think that at all. Of course, with you being here, things have changed, but for the better, not for the worst." Nicholas explained, as he chopped away. I thought that there was going to be nothing else to chop.

"You're right," I said softly, looking down on the floor. "But I have one question, and you don't have to answer it if you think that it's too personal...but what did Annabelle mean when she said 'I should have left you years ago, after what you did to me'?" I asked. He paused, looking down at the onion he had chopped into pieces, and sighed.

"Oh," he said, looking up. His eyes were out of focus, as if he were reliving a memory. "When Annabelle and I were first married... about 4 years into our marriage...I had an affair with a woman. It lasted almost 5 years, until Annabelle found out," Nicholas said, staring off into space.

"What happened?" I asked softly, feeling his pain.

"Annabelle paid her a million dollars to never see me again," Nicholas answered.

"Why did you..."

"Have an affair?" Nicholas asked, finishing my sentence. "Annabelle was cold. She was beautiful, sexy and wonderful, but she was cold in the bedroom. She wasn't intimate with me. I had to plead her," Nicholas said. I thought that it was odd he was sharing some of his most personal secrets with me, but I'm sure he needed someone to talk to. He went into the fridge and pulled out a head of broccoli and started to chop it. I chewed on my lip, thinking about all of this. There were many secrets in this household, and something inside of me was telling me that I should discover them. I made a quick conversation change, realizing that this was bringing pain to Nicholas.

"Oh, I wanted to let you know that I have a writing meeting on Friday after school, and I don't know long it's going to take. Is it OK if I go?" I asked. Nicholas nodded.

"Sure, it's fine," he said numbly, concentrating on his work.

"Just wanted to check and make sure that it was far enough ahead in advance," I mumbled sarcastically, but Nicholas didn't catch my sarcastic tone. He nodded, deep into his thoughts, and I stood up and let him concentrate on his work. It was still relatively early, so I decided to hop into the pool and go for a quick swim. I started doing laps around the pool, and as I was underwater, I heard somebody jump in. I lifted my head to see Danny, Andrew, Daryl and a few more of Zach's friends jumped into the pool and started splashing around. I pulled myself onto the deck and watched as they all nearly killed each other.

"Rose!" Andrew said, swimming over in my direction. I flash him a smile and watched the other boys. He pulled himself up next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I chuckled nervously and tried to push his arm away unnoticeably. "I like that bathing suit. It looks good on you," Andrew complimented, and I could feel his gaze running up and down my body. I shrugged and tried to dive into the water.

"Hey, where are you going?" Andrew asked as he dove into the water. Andrew was on the swim team and he caught up to me quickly. He pulled me into his embrace and I pushed him away.

"What's the matter? Stephen on your mind?" He asked as he chased me around. I tried to get away from him as quickly as I could, but I didn't have much experience swimming, so it was hard to get away. He kept coming at me, thinking that I was playing a game with him, and suddenly I was so tired and out of breath that I stated to sink to the bottom. Zach caught me drowning out of the corner of his eye and dove toward me, pulling me up toward the surface. I gulped for air and Zach dragged me out of the pool, laying me on my side and making sure that I was alright.

"What the hell were you doing?" Zach yelled at Andrew.

"We were just fooling around in the pool..." Andre said, looking at me desperately. I coughed up more water and started to sit up.

"Don't you know that she can't swim?" Zach roared. I stood up, a little bit wobbly, and looked around.

"No, how the hell was I supposed to know? What are you, her big brother?" Andrew sneered, and I could see that Zach was shaking with rage.

"Get the hell out of here. Now," Zach said quietly, pointing to the back door. Andre got out of the pool, threw a dirty look at Zach, and left. He turned to me, and I could see that he was very angry.

"Are you alright?" Zach asked me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes," I said, looking over at the other guys. They had started to play around again. "I'm going to go inside," I said, reaching for my towel and drying myself off. I went upstairs into my room, changed into my pajamas, and decided to rest for a little bit. Instead of dreaming of my future with Stephen, I had a nightmare about my past.

_I woke up in a dark room, the only light source being a lamp sitting in the corner. I sat up, realizing that I was sitting on a warm, comfortable bed, and realized that I was in my room. Grandma was sitting beside me, silently crying. She saw that I was awake and she smile. _

"_Hi honey," she said, grabbing my hand. I was instantly confused. Why was grandma crying? What was going on?_

"_Why are you crying?" I asked, feeling a big headache settle in. She sucked up her tears and smile. _

"_Grandma's just sad," She answered, wiping away a few stray tears. _

"_Why?" I asked. _

"_Because Grandma misses mommy," Grandma said, and she lightly squeezed my hand. _

"_What happened to Mommy?" I asked, feeling nervous. My head was feeling worse, and I laid back down. _

"_Mommy is gone now. She had to go to heaven," Grandma announced. I could see relief was in her eyes, but worry as well. _

"_Mommy got very sick, and God wanted her to be with him because she was so beautiful," Grandma answered. I understood now. Mommy was gone and she was never coming back. I could hardly remember her, for some odd reason. _

"_My head hurts," I announced, putting my hand over my forehead. Grandma stood up and left the room to fetch some aspirin. She came back with a glass of water and two tablets, and I swallowed them quickly. _

"_Grandma, I don't remember some things," I said, hugging my blanket. She smiled comfortingly and smoothed back my hair. _

"_Like what?" She asked. _

"_Like where we live, and what happened to Mommy, and how I got here. How come I'm dressed?" I asked, looking down and seeing that I was wearing some jeans and T-shirt. _

"_You were outside playing, and you wanted to take a nap. You must have been really tired," Grandma said. She then explained where we lived and brought up memories of Mommy. _

"_Go to sleep now. You must be tired," Grandma insisted, standing up._

"_But I was sleeping already," I said as she pulled the covers out and I slid under them. _

"_Yes, but it's one in the morning," She said as she tucked me into bed. I sighed as she leaned over to kiss my cheek. _

"_Goodnight," she said. My eyes were starting to close and I murmured a goodnight to her. _

"_Grandma?" I asked as she was leaving the room. _

"_Yes?"_

"_Is Mommy in Heaven?" I asked. She looked over at me._

"_Of course Rose. Why wouldn't she be?" She asked, leaning against the door._

"_Because I have a feeling that something bad happened to her."_


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **For all of you readers out there, I thought that you would like to know a little bit of background information on this story. The relationship between Stephen and Rose is actually the tale of a relationship that Just ended between me and my boyfriend Stephen. This isn't my life story; the relationship is thought. If you want more background on this story and such, feel free to email me at Thanks for those who are reading! Your comments are very helpful!

Chapter 5

Friday came around quickly, and I was excited for the writer's meeting on Friday after school. After all of my uneventful classes, Stephen and I met up and we walked over to Mr. Halloway's classroom and entered. About 50 people were scattered around the room, review and reading aloud stories. I looked at Mr. Halloway, smiled and took a seat next to Stephen and we waited for the meeting to start.

"Good afternoon everyone. Take a seat and quite down," Mr. Halloway yelled over the crowd. Everyone started to settle down and listened attentively to Mr. Halloway.

"Well, as you all know, tomorrow is the first short story contest. I expect you all to be entering a piece or two in. We'll be meeting at the school at 11 in the morning, and we'll be traveling up to Baton Rouge, stopping for lunch on the way. We'll get there, present our stories to the judges, and wait for your scores. Then we'll leave, get dinner, and head back to the school, at around 12 in the morning." There were a few groans in the back about the report time, and Mr. Halloway smiled.

"Now you're free to work on stories and such. I'll be back at my desk," Mr. Halloway said, sitting in his chair. I walked up to his desk and smiled.

"Is the story limited to a type of genre?" I asked. He smiled.

"No," he said. I was getting a feeling that he wanted to ask me something, so I stood there. "Rose, I want you to go tomorrow," he suddenly blurted. I froze.

"But, I can't. I haven't filled out the permission forms, and I don't even have a story!" I exclaimed.

"You could do it Rose. You could come up with a short story in limited time. You've got a wonderful imagination. And don't worry about the paper work; I'll take care of that. I know that you can score very highly with the judges there, and at the end of the year, they offer a publishing contract to the student with the best scores. How wonderful it would be if it was you. Please go," Mr. Halloway pleaded, flashing puppy dog eyes at me. I laughed and shook my head.

"Fine. I will go. But if I get bad scores, it's because of you," I said, sitting down at my desk again. Stephen looked over at me.

"He wants me to go tomorrow," I announced to him, and he smiled.

"Then you're going to sit with me on the bus," he demanded. I laughed.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No," Stephen answered with a playful glint in his eyes. I reached over and lightly punched him on the shoulder. He held my hand for a few minutes as he edited his story, and I sighed, trying to think of an idea to write a short story about. Once the meeting was over, I still hadn't thought of an idea.

"I can't do this," I said as I was walking out of the class room.

"Oh, don't do that, I'm sure you can," Stephen said. I smiled and pulled out my cellphone to call Richard. Stephen waited with me, and we walked to the front of the school. Richard pulled up quickly and I went toward the car.

"See you tomorrow," I said, waving at Stephen. He smiled, waved back and started to walk to the bus stop. We had been dating for a few days now, and we could hug, but that was all we did. It's still early on, I thought as I got into the car and looked out at the window. I still hadn't thought of a short story to submit to the contest, and time was ticking away. We arrived at the house and I ran into my room, going to my pile of manuscripts and reading through them, trying to find an idea.

"What's going on?" Nicholas asked in the doorway of my room. I jumped and brushed my hair back.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you were there," I mumbled. Nicholas smiled and entered my room.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm looking for a short story," I said, flipping through a notebook.

"For what?" He asked. I paused, realizing that I hadn't asked him if I could go to the contest tomorrow, and I hoped that he would let me go.

"Tomorrow there is a contest in Baton Rouge for writers; one of the schools up there is holding it, and my teacher Mr. Halloway wanted me to go. It's a bit short notice..." I said, trailing off to look up at his reaction. He looked genuinely interested, and I preceded to tell him the details.

"That would be OK with me," Nicholas finally said, and I leaped up and hugged him.

"Thank you Nicholas," I said. He smiled and patted my back. I pulled away and sat down on my bed.

"So, how is your boyfriend?" Nicholas asked, and I was completely thrown off guard. How had he known? He saw the surprised look on my face, and he laughed.

"I overheard Zach talking to one of his friends. Who is he? What's he like?" Nicholas asked, sitting down on the corner of my bed.

"Nicholas, he's really nice. I like him a lot. He's really great," I gushed happily.

"Well, I would like to meet him one of these days, to see if he's good enough for you," Nicholas ordered, and I smiled.

"You're acting like the typical father," I told him, and he laughed.

"I guess it just runs in fathers' blood," he answered, standing up. "Invite him over one time. I would really like to meet him. I'll let you get back to your work," he stood up, winked at me and left the room. I sighed, looking at the random notebooks spread across my bed, and an idea finally struck me. I ran downstairs into the library to use the computer, and I started to type away. It was about a girl who was at school when she went into a public restroom. A phone number was written on the mirror, and when she returned to class, she saw that this number had repeatedly call her phone. She didn't know who it was, so she didn't answer it, or return the call. When she went home, her house phone rang, and she answered it, hearing blood curdling screams on the other end of the line. Horrified, she asked who this was, but all she got was a dead line. She hung up the phone and turned around to see someone had entered the house, a butcher's knife in his left hand. It was the greatest idea that I had come up with yet, and I was so excited about it, that I worked on it throughout the night. I fell asleep around 3 in the morning, and didn't wake up until nine. I groaned, sitting up and wishing that I could fall back asleep for the rest of the day, but the contest popped into my mind, so I willed myself to get up and get dressed.

Nicholas and Annabelle were seated at the table, engaging in a late lunch when I went downstairs.

"Good morning Rose," Nicholas said, staring at the paper his was reading. Annabelle didn't acknowledge my presence as I sat down and starting picking fruits of a platter that was sitting in the middle of the table.

"What time do you need to be dropped off at the school?" Nicholas asked, sipping a glass of orange juice.

"Around eleven," I answered, and I saw Annabelle perk her head up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"There's a writing competition up in Baton Rouge that my teacher invited me to," I answered shortly, her harsh words from yesterday entering my mind. Her head swivelled to Nicholas, and he shot her a dirty look. I could tell that she wanted to say something nasty about it, but she held her tongue until I was out of earshot.

"You're letting her _go?_" Annabelle asked as quietly as she could. I laughed to myself. _Couldn't she have at least waited until I was upstairs? _I stayed near the dining room doors to listen in.

"Of course I am. I have no reason to hold her back. She's done nothing wrong," Nicholas said. I could hear Annabelle's angry grunt. As she marched out of the dining room. I darted behind a fake tree standing near the door to hide from her, and watched as she mumbled angrily to herself as she walked up the stairs. I came out of my hiding place to go upstairs into my room to get ready. At 11, I met Nicholas downstairs and we got into the car.

"Are you excited?" Nicholas asked.

"More nervous than excited," I replied, review my story for the hundredth time. I sighed nervously and put it away. The more I read it, the more nervous I was going to get. It would be the first time that someone had ever read any of my stories, and it was to be judged. I pushed the thought away and watched as the school came into the clearing.

"Good luck," Nicholas said as we pulled up to the school. I kissed his cheek, hugged him and got out of the car, seeing students lining against the fences to wait for the bus. Mr. Halloway was the first to greet me.

"May I read?" He asked, seeing that I held the story in my hands. I handed it to him without saying anything, and started to pace around, reading it carefully. Stephen came up to me and watched as Mr. Halloway read my story. Once he was finished, he looked up from the carefully typed pages and smiled so wide I thought he was going to explode with happiness.

"Rose, I'm a loss for words," he said. My heart leaped inside. "Nothing could explain how wonderful this story is. I'm very proud of you." I grinned and turned to Stephen, who patted me on the back. The charter bus pulled up to the school, and everyone started to board. Stephen and I took a seat in the back, Stephen on my left. I sat down nervously next to him and sighed.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Stephen complimented me. I smiled weakly and leaned back in the seats. Mr. Halloway explained the agenda for the day, took a quick roll call, and the bus pulled away from school. There were TV's on the buses, so Mr. Halloway popped in Star Wars 1 into the DVD player, and everyone started to watch. Once we had gotten out of city limits, the bus driver, who had to be at least 80 years old, could keep the bus entirely straight, and I wasn't feeling to go.

"You OK?" Stephen asked, seeing the discomfort on my face.

"I'm not feeling to good," I said. Luckily, it wasn't like I was about to vomit, but it came pretty close. The other students started chattering about how bad the bus driver was driving, and finally, we stopped for lunch at a burger joint. I didn't want to eat anything due to fear of getting sick, but I nibbled on a few fries that Stephen had offered me. After we had about 45 minutes to eat, we went back onto the bus and drove for another hour an a half. By now my nerves had left me, but it was being replaced with fear. What if I did horribly? What if someone knew that my mother was a best selling author, and they were disappointed in me for not living up to her name? I sighed, wishing that I wouldn't let my own thoughts get the best of me, and we arrived at the school. It was another private school in the downtown area of Baton Rouge, and it was alive with excitement. Students were running around outside, trying to find their groups, and other things, and I could feel the energy surrounding them.

"Whoa," Stephen said as we stepped off the bus. I followed him inside of the building, we headed for the check in area which was in the cafeteria. Mr. Halloway signed the school in, and he gave us slips of papers.

"Here is a map of the school, and the room you are to be judged in. They are going to ask you some questions, so answer as honestly as you can. Good luck. If I am needed, I'll be in the lobby of the school," Mr. Halloway announced, and the group started to dissolve.

"What room are you in?" Stephen asked, glancing at my slip of paper. "Oh, we're right next to each other. Our time is in half an hour. Do you want to walk around the school a little bit?" I nodded, thinking that a long walk would clear my mind. We exited the school and went to walk around the area, gardens scattered around everywhere. We somehow wandered into a rose garden and we sat down.

"It's what you were named after," Stephen said. I leaned over and smelled a yellow rose, it's fragrance relaxing me a little bit. It instantly brought back memories of when I was living with my Grandmother and my mother had a beautiful rose garden. It had every type of Rose known to man, and during the summer time, it blossomed so beautifully.

"Rose are my most favorite flowers," My mother would say. "That's why I named you after them. Because you remind me of roses." She spent hours on that garden, and the summer before she died, it was the best it had ever looked. _I'll have to ask Nicholas if I can plant some bushes in the backyard,_ I thought. I sat down next to Stephen on a stone bench and sighed.

"You don't seem nervous anymore," Stephen pointed out. I grinned.

"Roses make me feel better," I said softly, resting my head on his shoulder. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. My heart thumped nervously, because it was the first true sign of affection we had shown each other, other than hugging. We sat there for a few minutes, listening to the silence around us, and then Stephen looked down at his watch.

"We better go."

"Yeah," I said, standing up and taking one last look at the garden. He took my hand and we started walking back toward the building. We followed the directions to the judges' rooms, and we both entered different rooms, and panicked seized me.

It was a bare, white room with a chair in the middle of the room, and across from it, was the judge. She was very good looking, with brown hair cut to her shoulders, glasses and brown eyes. She smiled warmly as I entered the room.

"Good afternoon," she said. I walked over to the table and I handed her the story.

"I've never done this before, so please correct me if I make a mistake," I said to her, and she laughed.

"Well, so far you're doing quite well, so don't worry. Just have a seat over there," she directed me, and I took a seat in the chair and watched. She opened the folder, pulled out the story, and started to read it. It took her about 10 minutes to read it and then read it again to make it clear, and she looked up and smiled.

"What is your name?" She asked softly.

"Rosalyn Clairmont," I whispered, fearful of what she had to say.

"Come here," she said. I immediately leaped up from my chair and stood in front of her. She stared at me for a few minutes and grinned.

"I couldn't believe it when I read it. You're Emilia Clairmont's daughter, aren't you?" She asked. I nodded in response.

"You write just like your mother. This was absolutely genius. I really don't have any questions about this. Wonderful work," she said, shaking my hand. "You'll get your scores later on in the day. Go treat yourself to something," she added as I walked out the door. I sighed with relief when the door was shut. I had proved myself to be the writer that my mother was, and I was happy.

"How did it go?" Stephen asked as he walked out of the room.

"Wonderful," I said dreamily, and we proceeded to walk down the hallway and I explained to him everything that happened in detail.

"Wow, that's really great," he said. "Wanna go get something eat around the corner?"

I nodded. "What did you get on yours?"

"Oh, mine wasn't very good. Just your average story. But the judge liked it," he said cheerfully as we started to walk down the street. I smiled and started to blab about how the writer knew my mother. I stopped talking in consideration for Stephen when we arrived at the fast food restaurant.

"What do you want? I'll buy," he asked as he stared at the menu.

"Just some ice cream?" I asked him. He nodded and went up to order. I got a chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone and he got a milkshake. We sat down in a booth and started to eat.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Stephen asked, slurping on his shake.

"Probably nothing. I'll be sitting at home, watching TV or swimming," I answered with a shrug.

"Why don't you come to church with me tomorrow, and then after that you can meet my mother?" Stephen asked. I paused in mid lick when I heard that. He was inviting me to meet his parents?

"I've never been to church," I said softly.

"Don't worry. That doesn't matter. Will you go?"

I nodded. "Sure. I guess that would be alright," I replied. I finished my ice cream and waited for Stephen to finish his shake.

"You take forever," I complained. He laughed.

"I enjoy my food, and you just want to finish it," he retorted as he stood up and walked out of the building with me.

"So, I like to eat fast. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yeah, you don't taste it," he said, and I punched him in the shoulder.

"Jerk," I mumbled, and he laughed. We got back to the school and found Mr. Halloway, who was waiting in the lobby.

"How did it go?" He asked us as we walked in.

"Fine," Stephen and I both mumbled, and Mr. Halloway smiled.

"Your scores will be in around 8, so you have a few hours of waiting to do. I suggest curling up in one of the rooms like the other students and take a nap or something," Mr. Halloway suggested. Stephen and I walked out of the lobby and found where the other Montgomery Students were hiding out in. The room with soft with talking and Stephen and I found a secluded corner and sat down.

"What's your family like?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"Well, I have two brothers. They're both younger than me, and I have a dad and a mom," he said, and I chuckled. "We live in a nice house down the street from the school. I have my own room. Well, not really because my drum set takes up most of it," he said with a shrug.

"You play drums?"

"Yeah," he said. "I thought that I told you that."

"You probably did, I just wasn't paying attention," I said and laughed. He punched my shoulder.

"Hey, that's abuse!" I cried, shoving him away from me playfully.

"Whatever," Stephen said, and I laughed again. A few minutes later, Stephen was asleep and I was staring around the room, thinking. Finally after a while my eyelids drooped and I took a nap for at least 2 hours.

"Rise and shine ladies and gentlemen!" Mr. Halloway bellowed from inside the room. I jumped out of my sleep and shook Stephen awake.

"What?" He asked. He looked at Mr. Hallow and sat up.

"I have your scores. Come up and get them when I call your name," Mr. Halloway announced, and he started to read off student's names. Mine was finally called last, and I went to receive my scores. I stared down at the paper in shock. The rating scale was one to five, five being the best. In every category, there were fives in the little boxes. I stared in disbelief. Was this really my story? Did I really receive these scores? Stephen glanced at the sheet, and his eyes grew wide.

"You got all fives?" He asked. I looked up at Mr. Halloway and saw him smile. I nodded blankly at Stephen and looked around. All of the other students were crowded around me, looking at my score sheet.

"There's going to be a ceremony for the schools with the highest scores, and for individual works," Mr. Halloway announced to the group, and there was light chatter going around that I was going to be recognized. I smiled at Stephen, and I went to put my sheet with my things. Finally, at around eight, the ceremony commenced. There were seven schools competing, and they all crowded in the small auditorium of the school and waited for their scores. Montgomery received an 80.53, which compared to the scale was a four. Our rival school, Florence Academy, received at 76.34, which was a good thing for Montgomery. After the announcement of the schools' scores, there were individual awards. There was only one student from each school that was going to be recognized, and Mr. Halloway had submitted my name.

"From Montgomery Academy in New Orleans, we have Rose Clairmont, the daughter of Emilia Clairmont, receiving the Outstanding short story award," The director of the organization announced, and the students at the Montgomery school screamed cheers as I went up to the stage to receive my award. It was a certificate and a gold medal which read first place. I took my award with pride and wished inside that they hadn't showered so much attention on me. Back at the Poitier Academy, I was constantly praised for my writing, and because of it, I had lost some friends because of it. I went back to my seat and received pats on the back and compliments from my peers, and we went out to the buses to leave. I was instantly drained of energy, and I started to close my eyes fro sleep, when I felt Stephen's arm go around my shoulder and pull me closer to him.

"I'm tired," he murmured, looking down at me. I grinned and scooted closer to him, the scent of his cologne putting a smile on my face. I instantly was asleep against him, and I didn't wake up until we arrived at the school. We got off the bus, and behind us, I could hear people commenting on how "cute" Stephen and I looked together. I blushed every time I heard a comment. I called Nicholas once I got off the bus, and he said that he would be there momentarily.

"So, are you going to go tomorrow?" Stephen asked. I nodded.

"What time should I be ready by?" I asked, numbly. I was so tired, all I wanted to do was to crawl into my bed.

"Probably 9:30. You don't have to dress nice, just come in comfortable clothes I guess," he mumbled. I nodded just as Nicholas's car pulled up.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," he said. I waved to him and crawled into the backseat of the car, resting my head against the window.

"Did you have fun?" Nicholas asked cheerfully as we pulled away from the school.

"I pretty much got first place," I announced, and Nicholas turned around to look at me.

"That's great! Excellent!" He cried. I smiled weakly and started to doze off, but I forced myself to stay awake.

"Stephen was wondering if I could go to church with him tomorrow morning?"

"Church?" Nicholas asked.

"Yeah. He can pick me up and then afterwards he was wondering if I could go over to his house to hang with him and meet his parents and stuff," I murmured.

"Well, I guess that would be OK," Nicholas answered. I smiled and nodded off to sleep for a while before Nicholas woke me up to help me inside the house. I immediately dropped my things to the floor and went up to my room and crawled into my bed, remembering to set my alarm for 8:30. I immediately went to sleep, dreaming of what would happen tomorrow.

I woke up to the buzzing sound of the alarm clock at 8:30 in the morning, and I reached over and threw the clock against the wall, and it silenced. I sat up, trying to remember what happened last night, and then remembered that I had to get ready to go with Stephen to church. I took a quick shower and curled the ends of my hair after it dried, and I went into my closet to pick out something to wear. There was a cute little sun dress at the back of the closet. It was white with a flora design on it. I put that on, found a pair of matching sandals, and went down for breakfast.

Nicholas was the only one sitting at the dining table, reading the newspaper. I sat down and started to pick out some fruits that were sitting on a plate that was sitting in the middle of the table.

"Where's Annabelle?" I asked Nicholas. He looked over at his paper and smiled.

"Last night she had a charity event that she just had to attend to, and she got back late last night and had a little too much to drink," Nicholas announced. "So you don't need to worry about her today." I grinned, thinking that she deserved the worst hangover of her life, but I silently reminded myself that I was staying in her house and that I was to be respectful. I heard the doorbell ring shortly after that, and I bolted to the door to answer it. Stephen was standing there, dressed in a black pair of pants and a T shirt, and he was smiling.

"Oh, how did you find the house?" I asked, remembering that I forgot to give him instructions to the house.

"I just looked it up on the internet," He said with a shrug. I turned to Nicholas who was standing behind me, and smiled.

"Stephen, this is Nicholas," I announced. Nicholas reached over me and shook Stephen's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. Stephen nodded and turned to me.

"We better get going," he said.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Nicholas, I'll call you later. I promise," I said as I walked back to his car. It was a teal colored van that was obviously old. I waved to Nicholas and then turned to Stephen, who was opening the car door for me. I looked inside and smiled. Two boys were sitting in the back, one blonde haired, and one dark haired child, and up front, his Stepfather was driving, and his mother was sitting the passengers seat.

"Hi Rose, nice to meet you," his mother said. She was an older woman, probably in her early forties, with graying hair and hazel eyes. She wore light framed glasses and she had a wonderful smile. She was short, plump, and friendly from my first impression. "I'm Karen, Stephen's mother." She spoke so softly and warmly that it made me happy.

"Nice to meet you," I said with a large grin.

"This old man driving is Bobby, Stephen's Stepfather," Karen said, nodding over at the driver. He was tall, with balding gray hair, and large sunglasses on. He also had hazel eyes and a large smile.

"Nice to meet you," he mumbled. I smiled at him and I sat back in my seat and looked over at Stephen. He grabbed my hand and held it.

"Back there, is David and Matthew. David is the older one," Karen said. I turned around to see them both. David had black hair, glasses and was chunky for his age. Matthew had blonde hair, glasses, and light blue eyes.

"Hi," I said to the both of them. They both waved at me, and I turned around to Stephen. He smiled at me, and I stared ahead until we reached the church. Me and Stephen went into his Sunday school classes, and he introduced me to the group. That went by quickly, and we then went into the sanctuary for the rest of the service. We really didn't pay any attention, we were both tickling each other and messing around and Karen laughed at us both. Finally, we went back to Stephen's house for lunch, and we hung out for the rest of the day. We were mainly in the basement, watching TV or playing video games, but later on, we went up to his room and hung out there.

"I'm tired," I announced, stretching as I sat at his desk. He sat down on the floor next to the drum set and laid down.

"Come here," he ordered. I stood up and laid down next to him.

"Now go to sleep," he said. I laughed.

"Well, now we can say that we've slept together," I said with a chuckle. Stephen laughed and closed his eyes. I slowly drifted to sleep and didn't wake up until later when Matthew stormed into Stephen's room to announce that dinner was ready. I went into the bathroom to freshen up, and we went downstairs to eat dinner. Sitting at the table at dinner, I looked around and smiled.

_I think I'm going to like this family._


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Things after that day started to finally look up, for once in my life. Stephen made me so happy that I couldn't stop smiling. We constantly hung out together at each other's houses, and we talked on the phone a lot. He was the man of my dreams, and I even envisioned my wedding with him; of course, without the glasses. After school one day in November, we were meeting together to say goodbye, and I noticed something was different about him.

"What's wrong with your glasses?" I asked him, seeing that they had been taped at the bridge.

"They broke. My friend Neal was serving the volleyball and it hit my face," he said. I stifled laughter, and I pulled off the broken glasses. I hadn't seen him without his glasses, and I gasped when I saw him. His eyes were much more... beautiful then they had been, he looked so much better without them.

"I'm going to make an eye appointment after school," he said, but I was barely listening.

"Get contacts," I breathed.

"Yeah, I wanted to. You know, the ones that can make your eyes white! Or even red!" He exclaimed. My eyes widened.

"Stephen, don't you dare get those. I would kill you," I said with fear.

"Don't worry, I will," he said. I came at him to beat him up, but he grabbed my arms and held me toward him.

"Please, promise me you won't get those," I whispered, looking up at him.

"Eh, we'll see," he said. "And then after that, I'll dye my hair pink."

"I have to go," I said angrily, secretly playing with him. I marched off and he ran after me.

"Rose," Stephen said.

"No. I have to go," I said, walking to where Richard picked Zach and I up.

"Hey!" He said, finally grabbing my arm and pulling me toward him. "Are you going to go to Nicole's birthday party this weekend?"

"Yeah, I guess if I have to go with you," I said with a grin.

"Good, I'll pick you up at five." He kissed me goodbye and started to walk to the city bus stop. I caught up with Zach and waited for Richard.

"Zach, how come you don't have a girlfriend?" I asked him as Richard pulled up the car. He shrugged.

"I don't really have time for one," he answered as he entered the car.

"Sure you do," I said as Richard pulled away from the school.

"I need to concentrate on other things, like sports and my grades," he said accusingly.

"Hey, my grades have been the best ever," I explained to him, and it was true; I had never had grades this good before. I thought having a boyfriend would possibly bring my grades down, but it made them go up.

"I dunno, it's just not my thing," he said, pulling out his cellphone and starting to play tetris. I leaned back and waited until the house had come into view. Zach and I hurried into the house, trying to avoid Annabelle at all costs. Lately she had been very angry and mean toward everyone in the house, so Zach and I were trying to stay out of her way.

"Rosalyn!" She shrieked from the den. I paused and looked at Zach.

"You better go to her before she kills you," he advised, running up the stairs as quickly as he could. I sighed and walked into the den. She had called me by my full name, and whenever she did that, she was never pleased with me. She was sitting on the couch, reading the latest Vogue magazine. She looked up sharply and narrowed her eyes at me.

"Nicholas tells me that you're going to a birthday party this weekend for you friend Nicole?" She asked.

"Yes. Stephen is picking me up," I answered cautiously. Every time I mentioned Stephen, she grew more into a rage.

"Stephen. Humph. You could do much better than that boy," she mumbled under her breath. Every time she had said that, I wanted to rip her throat out.

"Stephen is a wonderful, nice boy. Just because he doesn't have loads of money or interact with the people in your rich society, doesn't mean you can inspect him under a magnifying glass to point out his imperfections," I snapped at her. I knew that I would regret it later, but I didn't care of the repercussions at the moment. Her eyes grew wide, and she stood up.

"How dare you talk to me like that. In my own house!" She yelled. "Remember that you are a guest in this house, a charity case Nicholas picked up on his way home from the grocery store, and at any moment, you could be living out on the streets, just like you had before. You're not going to that party, especially because it involves a pool, near nakedness, and raging teenage boys. Go to your room and do your homework before I kick you out myself," she ordered. I wasn't scared of her. I towered over her because she was a short, petite woman, and if I wanted to beat the living hell out of her, I could have. But for the sake of the rest of the household, I gave her a dirty look instead and marched up to my room noisily and slammed the door when she walked by. Later, I would tell Nicholas what she had told me, and he would be furious with her. Instead of doing my homework, which I didn't have, I called Stephen instead and told him what had happened.

"You can't go?" He asked. I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and my heart sank.

"I'm going. Who cares what she says? She isn't my mother, and she doesn't have absolute rule over me."

"How are you going to get there?"

"You're going to pick me up, of course," I said.

"Rose, I don't know if I should do that. I might get in trouble and stuff and she could do something that we'll both regret."

"Don't worry about her. I have Nicholas on my side," I said confidently. I ended the conversation quickly, hearing Nicholas walk through the hallway, and I chased after him.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked, standing at the foot of his bedroom door. He looked worn out and tired, and I wondered if this was the right time to tell on his wife.

"Um, yeah. Give me about 10 minutes," he said, sitting on his bed and sighing. I could tell that he wanted a few minutes to relax and such, so I went downstairs to watch a little TV. A few minutes later, Nicholas walked in, dressed in his normal clothes.

"What's wrong now?" He asked, groaning as he sat down.

"Maybe it should wait until later, you look really tired," I said, turning toward him.

"Don't worry about me. I know what was going on anyway," he said.

"Who told you?" I questioned.

"Both Zach and Annabelle, though both versions of the story are different. Let me hear yours," he said. I began to explain as accurately as I could what happened in the den. When he heard what happened, he sighed.

"That sounded more like Zach's story," Nicholas finally said. "Rose, I want you to be careful about what you say to her. She can get you out of this house, and I can't stop her all of the time." I nodded, knowing that she could do whatever she wanted.

"Am I allowed to go to the party?" I asked.

"Yes, you can go. But please, watch what you say," Nicholas warned. I grinned and ran up to my room to tell Stephen.

The weekend rolled around quickly, and the party was here. Stephen came to pick me up around five, and we headed over to Nicole's house. It was a pool party, and it would be the first time that Stephen would see me in a bathing suit. We were escorted into the backyard my Nicole's mother and were exposed to the party. Loud music was blaring in the background, and over that I could hear the screams of the other guests as they were playing around in the pool. Nicole dragged herself out of the pool and said hi.

"You guys better get in," she said, shivering as she looked back at the others. Everyone started to greet us, and I looked at Stephen. He was taking off his shirt and his pants to reveal red swimming trunks. I slowly removed my shirt to reveal a black bikini top and my skirt to reveal short bottoms, and Stephen was already coming at me.

"I"m gonna throw you in the pool," he said, putting his hands on my waist and lifting me up.

"Stephen don't you dare!" I screamed at him as he scooted toward the edge of the pool. He looked as if he were going to let me go free, but at the last second, he dumped me inside. The water was a little cold, but refreshing. I almost panicked, remembering the time when I had almost drowned, but I swam to the surface and wiped my eyes. Stephen swam toward me and pulled me toward him, smiling. Just being up against his chest made my heart beat faster. He lightly brushed his lips against mine, and I giggled, looking around at the others who were staring. Stephen lifted up my legs and wrapped them around his waist and we sat at the edge of the pool, watching everyone make fools of themselves.

"You look great in a bathing suit," he whispered in my ear. I smiled.

"Well, you don't look to bad yourself," I said. He kissed my neck, and I was wondering if we were showing to much affection, but I really didn't care. We stayed like that most of the night, softly talking as the others were drowning in the pool. Of course, Stephen and I interacted with the others for awhile and then got out of the pool, the party coming to an end. We wrapped a towel around each other, trying to fight off the cold. Karen came to pick us up, and she offered to take me back to their house to have a late dinner, but I had to refuse. She said the offer was always welcomed, and she dropped me off at the house. I walked inside, hoping that Annabelle wouldn't hear me, and I hurried inside of my room, eagerly waiting to take a shower and to get into bed. After I showered and dressed in my pajamas, I went downstairs to get some water, but I heard Nicholas and Annabelle arguing. The curiosity got to me and I crept by their door.

"Please, Annabelle, just for tonight," I heard Nicholas say very softly. Something was telling me that they were trying to have an intimate moment. My mind flashed back to the time when Nicholas and I were having a conversation in the kitchen about how Annabelle was unwilling.

"No, Nicholas," Annabelle snapped. I sank down to the floor and rested against the wall as I listened.

"Please, Annabelle, it's been months, and I had to plead the last time," Nicholas pleaded, walking around the room.

"No Nicholas. After last time, after what happened, I don't want to risk it."

"Annabelle, I swear to God it was an accident. It broke... I didn't think that you were going to be pregnant..." Nicholas trailed off, and I gasped. Annabelle was pregnant? What had happened?

"I don't believe that Nicholas. I know how much you want children," Annabelle said.

"Please, I was being reckless. Annabelle, I love you," Nicholas said softly, walking in the room. I heard soft kissing after that, and Annabelle whimpering.

"Please, don't let it be like last time..." Nicholas asked. "I promise, you'll like it."

"Nicholas..." I heard her say. "Go to your whore. She will enjoy it."

"I don't have another woman on the side, Annabelle," Nicholas hissed.

"You did, before," she said, walking around the room.

"That was years ago Annabelle. But now she's gone," Nicholas said. "There hasn't been anyone else since her."

"Then you've learned your lesson," Annabelle said. I heard the bedsprings creak once as she sat down.

"Annabelle," Nicholas said hotly. "You're beautiful, sexy, and I love you so much. Please, just for tonight. One night, one time," I heard his hurried footsteps across the floor.

"Please, Nicholas, stop," I heard Annabelle say. I heard soft kissing noises, and groaning. The bedsprings started to move a little bit, and I heard Annabelle's yelp.

"Nicholas," she gasped.

"Annabelle," Nicholas said. I couldn't stand anymore so I stood up and fled from the doorway. I ran down to the hallway and to my room, where I softly shut the door and waited. Had they heard me running? I closed my eyes and heard the conversation replay in my head. Nicholas had to plead with his wife? I shuddered, hoping that Nicholas didn't have to use physical means to force Annabelle. I closed my eyes, trying to forget the whole incident, and I climbed into bed, trying to think of something else as I went to sleep. I couldn't though, so I went downstairs to watch some TV. Zach had already beaten me there. He was up late, watching a basketball re-run.

"What are you doing up?" He asked as I sat down.

"Couldn't sleep," I lied, realizing that I had only gotten home about an hour ago.

"Me either. I come out here and watch TV when I can't sleep," Zach said, flipping through the channels.

"What keeps you up?" I asked.

"Thoughts," he said. He looked at me. "Don't think that I don't know what's going on in my parent's bedroom right now." My head swivelled toward him. "You came from the east wing. My parents room."

"I didn't mean to hear anything," I said, looking ashamed of myself.

"Don't worry. I hear it all the time. It happens often," Zach admitted.

"And nobody has done anything about it?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"I don't like to get involved. And she's never gone to the police about it," Zach said.

"Your father had an affair," I said to him.

"I don't know much about it," he said, staring at the TV. "It was before either of us were born. Some woman down the street. It went on for almost five years."

"I knew that," I said softly, looking down on the floor. "She was paid one million dollars to leave."

There was a brief moment of silence, and I turned to Zach.

"What did you think when your father brought me into the house?" I asked. I wanted to know how he felt about the whole situation. He looked at me for a second and sighed.

"It was really...weird," he blurted. "I mean, my father brought a complete stranger, a teenage girl into the house, and I was supposed to accept you and treat you like I knew you."

"I can understand that," I whispered.

"It really wasn't too bad thought. I thought you were going to be trouble and things were going to change, but not much has happened," he answered. "But, this has happened before."

My head snapped toward him. "What?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah. A few years back, when I was 11 years old, this girl came to the door looking for my dad. She was a cocaine addict; she was living on the streets and didn't have much money. Anyway, she claimed that she was my father's illegitimate child. We thought that she was the child of the first woman that my father had an affair with, but it was a one night stand thing. My father totally believed her and he offered her a place to stay. She was 17, almost 18, so we thought that she could take care of herself. So we went to bed that night, and we woke up in the morning and expected her to come out of her room to go get something to eat or something, but she never came out.

"Finally, after a few hours, we decided to see if she was still here; maybe she had snuck out of the room. We walked inside and saw that she was still sleeping. Mom shook her to wake her up, but she never did. We ripped the covers back on the bed and saw loads and loads of drugs sitting next to her. During the night, she had overdosed on cocaine. We called the police and had her taken away. Later, when they went through the little things that she had, they found a slip of paper with our address and name. After going through more papers that she had, we found out that she was a drug smuggler and that she knew the house was big enough to traffic drugs through. She wasn't really my father's long lost daughter."

I sat there, staring at him in disbelief. Why hadn't Nicholas told me about this? Why was he keeping so many things from me?

"You're one good story teller," I finally said, trying to absorb this.

"I wish I was as good as you though," Zach said.

"Is there anything else that I should know? Is he hiding someone in the basement?" I asked jokingly.

"I don't know. I haven't been down there lately," Zach joked along.

"What I don't understand, is why your father is so eager to help people," I muttered more to myself, but Zach answered anyway.

"Redemption."

"Redemption?"

"Yeah. For disobeying his wife. He thinks that if he does good deeds for the rest of his life, that God will eventually forgive him," Zach answered.

"So I'm just another good deed?" I asked aloud.

"No, I don't think so. I think this time he truly saw someone in need, and he wanted to help you out," he decided. I nodded and looked around the room. After the story that Zach had just told me, I wanted to know all of the secrets of this family, and someday publish it all in a novel.

"This is a lot to take in for one night," I said to myself, staring at the late night soap opera on the TV.

"Can you handle it?" Zach asked. We locked eyes, and I could tell that he wasn't able to handle all of the family secrets.

"I think so," I said thoughtfully, wondering how much more there was to know. "Zach, why doesn't Annabelle like me?" I asked randomly.

"I think it's because dad takes your side over hers most of the time," Zach answered truthfully.

"But even the first day that I was here, she didn't want me to be in the house. Did she not like my mother?" I questioned, wondering what I could do to turn the hate around.

"I don't know. That was way before our time, remember?" he said. I nodded. "She's not used to change. She's not spontaneous or flexible when it comes to things like this."

"Hmm," I murmured, thinking if there was some sort of family grudge against the Fugue's in my family. I couldn't recall anything.

"I think I'm going to bed. I have a lot of things to sleep on," I announced, standing up and looking around. The whole house had secrets lurking in the shadows, and all it took was a little investigating to find out.

"That's probably wise. It's at least 12. Don't you have church in the morning?" Zach asked.

"Yeah," I said, starting to walk to the stairs. "Zach?"

"Yeah?" He asked, still sitting on the couch. I smiled at him.

"Thanks," I murmured. He nodded in response and I headed up the stairs, pausing as my eyes wandered toward the east wing. There was no noise coming from the bedroom, and from under the doorway, I could see that the lights were turned off. I shook my head, trying to forget the scene and crawled into my bed and immediately went to sleep, pushing the thoughts and events that had happened today out of my mind and away for a while.

In the morning during church, I had an earful to tell Stephen. I told him everything, confident that he wouldn't tell a soul.

"Well, they sure do have an interesting background," he said after I was finished blabbing. I nodded.

"I just want to know more about the family. My curiosity is getting to me," I said, chewing on my lower lip.

"I can tell. Just don't worry about it. I'm sure that things will start flowing when you stop asking," Stephen said. It made sense, so I nodded and held tight to his hand. I declined going over to his house after the service; I wanted to talk to Nicholas and find out what other secrets he had lying around the house. As soon as I burst in the door, I wanted to know where he is.

"He's not home, why?" Annabelle asked suspiciously, giving me an odd look.

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to him...that's all," I said as casually as possible. She walked away, shaking her head and muttering something under her breath, and I went up to my room to wait. As soon as he walked in the door, I ran to him.

"We need to talk," I said cooly, keeping my eyes locked with his.

"Ok, fine, just let me change really quick," he said, heading up the stairs. He obviously didn't catch the seriousness in my voice, and I feared that this was going to be harder than I thought. After five minutes, he walked out of his bedroom, and I turned him around.

"I'd rather we do it in here," I said, pushing him back into his bedroom and shutting the door behind me.

"Rose, what's going on? Is something wrong?" He asked, sitting down on his lush bed. It was the first time I had been in his room, and I gaped. It was all done in purple and gold tones. The California King bed sat in the middle of the room, dressers and a vanity table off to the left, next to the bathroom door. On the right were two french doors leading out to a stone balcony looking over the backyard.

"Yes, something is wrong," I said, sitting down in a nearby chair.

"What's going on?"

"After I got home from the party last night, I went up into my room to shower and get ready for bed. I was thirsty, so I went downstairs to get some water, but I heard you and Annabelle shouting..." I trailed off, trying not to say that I had heard him force himself on his wife. His face got very pale and his eyes grew wide.

"Rose, please believe me when I say this, but I do not rape my wife. I-"

"I understand Nicholas, but that's not the subject at hand," I said, even though I did want to discuss what had happened, but I decided to save it for another time.

"Then what is it?" Nicholas asked. He seemed impatient to know what it was.

"After I heard you guys talking, I went to go downstairs to watch TV because I couldn't sleep. Zach was down there, and we got to talking," I said softly.

"About what?" Nicholas asked gravely.

"Well, I asked him what he thought about me suddenly living here and he said that he was used to it. It had happened before," I said, locking my eyes with him once again. His face grew pale, and he took a deep breath, as if he couldn't breath. "Zach told me about the time when he was 11 years old, and that you had invited a crack addict into your home because you believed that she was your daughter. Nicholas, how am I to be accepted in this family if I don't know what has happened in the past?" I asked, a tiny bit of hysterics in my voice. "What other secrets do you have in your past or that lie around the house, waiting for me to discover them? Do you have a secret love child? Or does Annabelle have a secret lover? How am I supposed to trust you if you lie to me?"

"I'm sorry Rose, for not telling you," he said softly, knowing that he had done something wrong. "I realize that your view of me has changed a little."

"Not at all," I replied. "I still think of you as a wonderful man who took in a needy girl, a man who loves his wife and son."

He smiled at that remark and stood up.

"If I'm going to be a part of this family, I want to know all of the secrets that lurk in it. I don't want to be left in the dark," I said, folding my hands in my lap. "Is there anything that I should know about that might come up into conversation?"

"Not that I can recall," Nicholas asked, stroking his chin.

"Good. Thanks for listening," I said softly, standing up to walk out of the room.

"Wait," Nicholas said, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward him. He looked into my eyes and smiled.

"Rose, you're wonderful," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I promise, my secrets, are your secrets." He leaned over to kiss my cheek, and we walked out of the room, Nicholas going downstairs to start dinner. And as I watched him walk away, I could tell that Nicholas Fugue had lied.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

November passed quickly, and Stephen and I had finally started to evolve in our relationship, both emotionally and physically. Every Sunday, I went over to Stephen's house to have dinner and hang out with him. Every time we were together, I felt nothing but happiness. Summer started turning into fall, and fall slowly started turning into winter, and that was when the holiday's quickly approached us. Stephen went out of town every year to visit his family in Oklahoma. He was leaving the day that school let out for winter break, and I went over to his house after school.

"Please, don't leave," I pleaded, wrapping my arms around his neck as he lay overtop of me. We were upstairs in his room, waiting for his mother to come home so that they could leave.

"Believe me, if I didn't have to go, I'd stay here. I don't think that we're going to next year though," he said as he trailed kisses on my cheek. I sighed.

"I'm going to miss you so much," I said, burying my face in his chest. He shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as you know it," he said with a kiss. I held onto him so tightly and nodded, kissing him back. We stayed up in his room, kissing for a while before his mother came home. When we heard her footsteps on the steps, we instantly split apart, pretending just to hang out. Karen knocked on the door and smiled.

"We'll be ready to leave in about a half an hour to drop you off, Rose. Is that Okay?" she asked._ Of course it's not Okay, I don't want him to leave!_

"It's fine," I said with a bright smile. She nodded and went back downstairs again. After she was in the kitchen, I crawled into his lap and smiled.

"So, what do I get as a going away present?" He asked with a sly smile. I grinned.

"Hmm... I don't know," I said, placing my hands on his shoulders. "I'll think of something."

After a few minutes of saying "goodbye" to each other, we went downstairs and waited until we had to leave. Finally, we all piled into the van and headed back toward my house. As every minute passed by, I thought of how much I was going to miss him. But fortunately, Annabelle was planning her annual Christmas Ball, and that was going to occupy most of my days. We arrived at "Tara" and Stephen walked me toward the door.

"Please don't leave me," I pleaded, throwing my arms around him and I sighed.

"I don't have a choice," he kissed me for a few seconds. I pouted, and he laughed.

"Merry Christmas," he said, and then walked back to the car. I waved when he looked back, and watched as the van drove down the street and disappeared. I went inside the house, and immediately, I regretted it. Decorations were everywhere, people were running around, and Annabelle was going crazy. Her annual Christmas Ball was being prepared for, and I wanted nothing to do with preparing. I ran upstairs quickly, hoping that she would see me, but I ran into Zach.

"You look scared," he said with a laugh.

"It's madness down there," I said, watching as Annabelle screamed at a decorator.

"Don't worry. It might be madness now, but when the ball starts, I think you'll have a good time," Zach said. "It's not really my thing."

"Why not?" I asked, leaning against the banister.

"Eh, it's just not fun for me," he said with a shrug.

"Come on," I said, lightly punching his shoulder. "There's going to be a whole bunch of girls..."

"_Old _girls," he said with a frown. "All of mom's old people friends are going to be there. But..." he said with a grin. "I'm allowed to bring a few friends."

"Oh, that's good," I said, wishing that I could have brought Stephen as a date. "I'm going to go work on a book or something," I said, going into my room and sitting down. I was really going to miss him a lot during this winter vacation. I sighed, starting to work on a novel, when Annabelle burst into my room, a man carrying a box after her.

"Oh, I have something for you!" She cried excitedly. The man put the box on the bed and opened it up. Annabelle picked up what was inside, and it was a crimson red dress.

"I bought it for you in November. Isn't it wonderful?" She giggled. I stood up and touched the fabric. The silky material ran through my fingers and I looked up at Annabelle.

"This is for me?" I asked. It was a spaghetti strap style with the material gathered on the left side, another piece of red fabric underneath it.

"Of course. It's a red and green ball! I saw it on the internet, and I knew that you had to have it," she gushed. "Try it on. I want you fitted for it."

I took the dress into the bathroom and changed into it, shivering because of the soft feel of the fabric, and I stepped out of the bathroom, and Annabelle squealed with glee.

"Oh! You're going to look so wonderful!" She cried, jumping up and clapping her hands.

"The belle of the ball?" The man behind her asked.

"Don't be silly Robert," she said quickly. "Of course, that's going to be me."

"Yes, of course," Robert said. I chewed on my lip as he started my measurements.

"The bust measurements are too big. You need to make them smaller," Annabelle advised, and I looked over at her.

"It's fine, actually," I said timidly.

"Oh no, my dear," she said, walking toward me. "You need to show them off. It's a woman's best feature!" She said with a laugh. I raised my eyebrow as Robert measured my bust and had the seam taken in. "That will be all Robert. Now go take the dress off," she commanded, and I went into the bathroom to change. Annabelle placed the dress in the box and handed back to Robert, who went downstairs.

"I think you're going to have a wonderful time at the ball Rose! There are so many wonderful young men from outstanding families that are going to attend. You'll just die!" She squealed excitedly. I glared at her. _How many times was I going to have to tell her that I didn't want any other man!_

"Sure," I said, sitting down on my bed.

"Well, I must be going. More planning to do!" she sang, sauntering down the halls and the stairs. I rolled my eyes, shutting the door behind her and starting work on my novels.

The days between school and the ball passed extremely slowly. Without Stephen to hang out with, or talk to, things seemed to go slower. He did call every night though, around seven to update me on his vacation. He was having a really great time, and he couldn't wait to see me again. He reminded me often that he missed me and couldn't wait to get home, and I was excited for his arrival. But finally, the day of the ball arrived, like the storm after the calm weather.

Annabelle was up at five in the morning, ordering caterers, and decorators around. I could hear her through the walls of my room, and around seven, I got up and went downstairs. I wish I hadn't. The downstairs was chaos. People were running around, the Christmas tree was being dragged in, and Annabelle was screaming at everyone. Once she saw me, she darted toward me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Go upstairs and get dressed. You have a hair appointment in 25 minutes!" she shrilled at me, and I ran upstairs to take a shower, gladly staying out of her way. After I showered and dressed, she pulled me into the car and we drove downtown to one of the best hair salons and spas in the city.

"I have an appointment...Annabelle Fugue?" She said, tapping her foot against the tile. The receptionist nodded and pulled us toward the hairdressing room, and sat us down.

"Someone will be with you in a minute," she said, wandering back to the lobby. Almost immediately, two hairdressers walked out of the backroom, smiling.

"Annabelle, how nice to see you again," one of the hairdressers said with a thick southern accent.

"And who is this lovely lady sitting next to you?"

"That's Rose, Nicholas's ward," she said, looking over at me. I raised my eyebrow. _Why wasn't I her ward also?_ I asked myself. Then I realized that she truly didn't accept me into her home and her heart. I shook my head, realizing that it was stupid to cry over something that I would never have; a true mother figure.

"Oh how lovely," she said, smiling devilishly at my way. "My name is Loretta Swint. Nice to meet you Rose," she said. I smiled in her direction and looked back at the floor. "What do you have in mind for her?" She asked Annabelle.

"I was thinking an up-do with curls hanging down and such. You're the hairstylist. Do your job!" Annabelle cried with a laugh. Loretta laughed heartily and started to run her fingers though my hair.

"Child, you have beautiful hair," she said, looking at me through the mirror. I smiled and mumbled a quick thank you as she started to survey my hair.

"I have something in mind. Bear with me," she said, turning the chair around to dip my head under the sink. She turned on the water and picked out a shampoo and a conditioner to wash my hair with, and after she was finished, she combed it and stared at it.

"This might take a while. Do you want something to read?" Loretta asked, nodding at the stack of magazines sitting on a table next to her. I picked up a Vogue Magazine and started to read as she did her work. She started with a trim; she cut off about an inch or so and then dried. I had already finished two magazines by now, and she pulled out the curling iron and started curling my hair. I looked over at Annabelle, who was chatting away as her hair was being cut.

"How long have you been living with Annabelle?" Loretta asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Not very long, since August," I said, flipping though the magazine.

"Oh, that's not very long at all. Do you like it?"

"It's very nice there," I said.

"I was surprised to see you walk in today," she said. "Usually, she comes in with a man."

I sat up straighter in my seat. "A man? Do you mean Nicholas?" I asked curiously.

"No, I don't think it's him. I've only seen Nicholas a few times, and it doesn't look like him..." she trailed as she spray hair spray on my hair.

"Well, then it must be her son, Zach," I declared, coming to a conclusion.

"No, it's not Zachary. I've cut that boy's hair since he was three years old. It's not him," she decided firmly.

"Then who could it be?" I asked aloud, looking over at her. She was deep in conversation, wearing the hairdresser's ear out. I looked back at Loretta.

"Well, he's young, maybe about in his mid twenties. He had dark hair, and light brown eyes, and he's always sitting next to her, rubbing her back or making cute little jokes. I thought it just might be a brother or a close friend or something that comes along with her," Loretta explained. I pondered for a while and then blinked.

"Does she...does she rub the back of his neck when they walk?" I asked. She looked at me and nodded.

"Yes, she does. How do you know that?" Loretta asked.

"I've seen her do it. That's all," I said, holding in my surprise. Annabelle had a lover! I knew that she rubbed his neck because she had done it often when she was around Nicholas. I blinked a few times. How could she have a lover? She doesn't like sex! _But she could have lied, she could have lied to everyone,_ I thought. Nicholas was going to be heartbroken. _But he had done the same thing. _I let the thoughts settle in my mind, and later on when the ball was going on, I would observe Annabelle like a hawk.

I sat there quietly, waiting for Loretta to put the finishing touches on my hair, and she pulled away.

"Take a look darlin'," She said, and I glanced in the mirror. I gasped. All of my hair was curled, and pulled up into a messy half pony tail with tendrils hanging down my face. I smiled and touched it, wondering if it was truly real. I had never had my hair done before in a salon, so I was experiencing a brand new thing. Loretta smiled.

"It looks great. Annabelle's already done. She's waiting in the lobby for you," she said, removing the black cape from my shoulders and shaking away any extra hair. I smiled, playing with the loose curls.

"Thank you Loretta," I said, turning around to face her. She grinner.

"Now you better come in an' visit me girl. You have some wonderful hair," she said, wagging her finger at me. I nodded and ran out into the lobby, where Annabelle was sitting in the lobby, talking on her cellphone. As soon as I walked out into the room, she closed her phone.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Oh, just the caterer. He can't really do much right," she said, shoving the phone into her handbag and standing up.

"You look absolutely wonderful! Let's get you home and ready!" She said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out to the car. _She was on the phone with her lover_, I thought as I sat in the back seat. It was obvious that she was lying and trying to hide it. I shook my head, knowing that it would break Nicholas's heart.

We arrived back at the house and I went directly up to my room, pondering what I was going to do tonight. I didn't want to stick by her side the whole night, but in order to cure my curiosity, I had to at least be around.

I sat in my room, waiting until the ball was coming around when Annabelle burst into my room just as the guests were arriving.

"Don't come out yet!" she hissed at me, dressed in her ball gown. It was a dark green halter style, with ruffles going down the dress. She looked extravagant with her hair and her gown.

"Why not?" I asked, setting my dress down on the bed.

"Because you have to make a grand entrance. The whole family is doing it. I'm going to be by Nicholas's side, and you'll walk next to Zach," she said. I frowned, wishing that I was walking with Stephen, but I tried to put that thought out of my mind. "I'll come in here and get you. Just sit tight," she said, leaving the room. I slipped into the dress, going over to the vertical mirror and taking a glance. I couldn't believe that I was the same person. I smiled, smoothing out the ruffles in the dress when Nicholas walked in. He gasped when he saw me.

"Rose, you look so wonderful," he said, running over to me and sweeping me into his arms. I smiled, smelling the scent of his cologne.

"Thank you," I mumbled modestly, looking down at my feet.

"Are you ready to get out there?" He asked. I nodded.

"Sure, I guess. I've never done this before," I admitted with a shrug.

"Well, don't let those people know that."

I nodded and smiled. "Is it time yet?"

"Just about," he said, looping my arm with his. We walked out of my room and to the mouth of the staircase where Annabelle was waiting, with Zach by her side.

"Alright. Richard is going to be making an announcement for us, and then we will all go down slowly. OK?" She asked. I looked down at the lobby and saw many people pouring inside the house, hanging up their coats and revealing exquisite clothes. I gulped, knowing that there were more people waiting, and it would be the first time that Annabelle's friends would see me. What would she tell them?

"Rose! Pay attention!" Annabelle hissed as Richard started to make his introduction. Annabelle and Nicholas locked arms and slowly descended down the staircase. I turned to Zach.

"I think I'm going to slip," I admitted as he pulled me down toward the stairs.

"You know how to walk," He murmured as we walked downstairs. It seemed a little ridiculous to make such a grand entrance, but that's how Annabelle wanted it. I could feel everyone's eyes glued to me as I walked downstairs, and I secretly was fervently praying that I wasn't going to mess up. Finally, we were at the bottom steps, and we walked over toward the middle of the room.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Annabelle announced. "And welcome to the ball!" Men and women started cheering and whistling and when they quieted down, Annabelle continued. "I honestly hope that you have a wonderful evening tonight. Drink and be merry!" The crowd cheered again, and the small orchestra that Annabelle had hired resumed their playing. I looked at Zach and he shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. I'm sure Annabelle and Nicholas didn't want me hanging around when they were hanging out with their friends.

"Just hang out with me. Besides, _Andrew _is going to be here," Zach sang, walking over to the group of boys that hung in the corner. I groaned, remembering what had happened in the pool with Andrew. I slowly walked over to the boys and they all busted out into large grins.

"You look nice Rose," I heard repeatedly as I saw Annabelle in the corner of my eyes. She was in the middle of the group, surrounded by men. She was laughing, holding a champagne glass in her hand and talking to a particular person. I waited for him to move so that I could see his face. I finally jumped when I saw him, but couldn't glance at him long.

"You OK Rose?" Andrew asked, slipping beside me.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," I said, drawing my eyes away from Annabelle. He tried to slip his arm around my waist and hold me close, but I pushed him away and went to stand by Zach. Everyone started talking and laughing, and Nicholas and Annabelle were allowing us to have a little bit of champagne. Andrew took advantage of that immediately, and before I finished one, he had downed four. For most of the first hour, he was hitting on me, whispering things into my ear, and finally, I had enough of it.

"Do you want to head upstairs for a second?" He whispered in my ear. I suddenly had a wonderful idea, and I smiled.

"Sure," I said in a sultry voice. He grinned and took my hand, leading me upstairs into one of the empty guest rooms. He shut the door behind me and stood there.

"You look so sexy in that outfit," he said, walking toward me. He put his arms around me, and I let him do it. He kissed my neck.

"Why don't you sit down? I'll take care of things," I said, lightly pushing him down on the edge of the bed. He licked his lips, and started to loosen his tie. I slowly walked toward him, locking my eyes with his and sitting down on his lap. He clutched my back and brought me into his chest, his lips going everywhere. I let him kiss me, except on the lips, until I grabbed his tie, stood up, and threw him on his back on the bed. He looked up, extremely happy, and thought this was part of four play, until I raised my leg and held it up above his groin area. His smile dropped immediately, and he didn't move.

"Look at me right now," I demanded, making sure that he was looking at me. "I have a boyfriend, and it's not you. I'm sick of you trying to hit on me and it's not going to happen again, is it?" I asked, threatening to bring my high heeled shoe down on his groin. He shook his head fervently and I smiled.

"Good. Now go downstairs, and pretend that NOTHING happened. Understood?" I asked, raising my foot and putting it down on the ground. He nodded and ran from the room, scared. I sat down, extremely satisfied with myself, but inside, I was feeling a little guilty. I had let Andrew kiss my neck and I pretended to be happy with it, but what I was I going to tell Stephen? _I'm going to tell him what happened,_ I decided, and I fixed myself up and went downstairs. Andrew had evidently left the house, and I was satisfied with that. Once he was gone, I started to have a little fun, and the champagne was going to my head. I decided to walk around the house, and I went into Nicholas's office to take a breather. Sitting there at his desk, was a tall, dark boy smoking one of Nicholas's expensive cuban cigars and a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I asked, leaning against the doorway. He turned toward me, took a puff from the cigar and smiled.

"Who are you?"

"I asked you first," I said, stepping into the office and closing the doors behind me. He grinned.

"Well, if you must know, I'm Jonathan Jackson, son of Arthur Jackson the third," he answered in a cocky tone. He took a swig of the whiskey and set the glass down on the table.

"You shouldn't be smoking those, or drinking that whiskey. How old are you anyway?"

"I'm 17," he said, flicking the ashes off of the cigar. I blinked.

"You're underage. For both smoking and drinking," I said, walking closer to him. He smiled.

"I've been drinking since I was 15 years old. And I've been smoking cigars for almost a year," he answered, swinging around in the chair.

"Why aren't you out at the party?" I asked, sitting down in one of Nicholas's leather chairs.

"Because they're extremely boring," he said, waving his hand in the air. "My father drags me to these things all the time. I've never seen you around here though. Who are you?"

"Rose Clairmont," I answered, lifting my head high.

"Well, Rose Clairmont, what the hell are you doing here?" He questioned.

"I'm Nicholas Fugue's ward," I answered, remembering that Annabelle didn't want me as her ward.

"Oh. I see," he mumbled, killing the cigar in the nearby ash tray. "A drink?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You don't like me very much," he said, looking at me suspiciously as he stood up to pour himself another drink.

"I don't know you," I said with a laugh.

"Don't you want to know my background? To check and see if I'm not a criminal?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"Well, what does your father do to produce so much money? The only way you could have been invited is if you have lots of money," I inquired, feeling witty and giddy at the moment.

"Well, my father owns two oil rigs in Louisiana, and my mother, who is not here tonight, is in a multi-million dollar corporation," he replied, downing the whiskey quickly.

"Then you have a lot of money then," I murmured. The band got louder, and Jonathan started to dance like a fool.

"These parties can be fun," he said, laughing as he sat down at Nicholas's desk.

"Sure," I said. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"I do, he's on vacation," I mumbled, wishing that he were here. "I better be going, Annabelle is probably looking for me," I added, standing up, and as soon as I went to the door, it flew open, and Annabelle is standing there.

"Rose, what are you doing in here?" She asked, surprised.

"I was just wandering off. Were you looking for me?" I asked. She blinked and nodded.

"Yes, I was. We're about to give the annual toast. Oh, have you met Jonathan?" She asked, looking over at the desk. He smiled and gave a short wave to Annabelle.

"Yes, I have. Should we go?" I asked quickly.

"Ah, yes, I'll be out there in a second," she said, glaring at Jonathan. I walked out of the room and realized that the clasp on my shoe had broken. I had kneeled down on the floor to fix it when I heard Annabelle talking.

"What are you doing in here? I told you to mingle around?" She hissed.

"Annabelle, those things are boring as hell. I wanted to stay in here," Jonathan said, the springs of the chair moving as he stood up.

"They are not. Just deal with it. Please?" She pleaded. After a moment of silence, I heard the unmistakable sound of soft kissing. A cold chill ran down my spine. And I looked into the room slightly. Annabelle was locked in an embrace with Jonathan, and they were kissing passionately. _She was cheating on Nicholas with a 17 year old boy?_


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next morning after the party, I was dreading the rest of the winter vacation. I had to eventually tell Zach and Nicholas about what Annabelle was doing, and I had to tell Stephen of my somewhat infidelity. But first, I had to worry about Annabelle's lover.

I cornered Zach the next morning after breakfast while we were sitting in the den. I shut the doors to make sure that nobody could hear us.

"What's going on?" He asked cautiously, sitting down on the couch.

"I need to tell you something," I said softly, sitting down next to him.

"Oh, god, you're pregnant," Zach said, burying his face into his hands. I laughed.

"No, that's not it," I said, wishing that it was something different that I had to tell him.

"Well, what is it?" He demanded impatiently, and I suddenly spilled it out.

"Last night at the party, I walked into a den and saw this guy sitting there. We talked for a few minutes, and then Annabelle walked in. I walked away, and later I had to fix my shoe, and I heard them kissing. Earlier yesterday, I heard the hairdresser talking about a man that Annabelle was with a lot," I said, looking down at the ground as I told him this. He didn't say anything after I finished. He just sat there, twisting his hands around and around.

"Zach?" I asked softly, so scared that he was about to explode. I looked at his face, and I was puzzled. He was stolid; unmoved by what I had told him. We sat there, for a few minutes, just staring at the floor.

"Please say something," I asked.

"Who is he?" He finally asked after a short pause.

"Jonathan Jackson," I said, somewhat flinching. That was when he exploded.

"_Jonathan Jackson? That asshole?" _Zach screamed.

"Zach, be quiet!" I hissed.

"No! I can't believe this! How could she do this? Especially with him! She lied about everything!" He yelled, charging out the door. I chased after him.

"Zach!" I yelled, running quickly after him. I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward me, but he pushed me away.

"Don't do this Rose! I have to take care of this!" He shouted, sprinting up the stairs. I ran in front of him and stood in his way.

"I'm not going to let you do this. It's Christmas Eve. Don't ruin the only real Christmas I've ever had," I asked pleadingly. He paused and sighed.

"As soon as this Christmas Break is over, I swear I'm going to talk to her," He said, making his hands into fists. I nodded.

"But what about your father?" I asked.

"I hadn't thought of that," he said, pausing to think for a minute.

"He's going to be crushed," I murmured softly, picturing Nicholas's reaction.

"I know," Zach whispered, backing away from their bedroom door.

"I'm sorry to throw all of this on you."

"It's not your fault," he said, seeming that he was at a lost for words. He brushed past me and walked into his room, shutting the door and yelling. I sighed, my heart feeling heavy because I had put something so horrible on him. I went upstairs in my room to do a little bit of writing to get rid of this bad feeling. I don't know what happened to me, but when I picked up a pen and starting writing in my little notebooks, I felt relaxed. I was gone from the world that caused me stress, fear, and loneliness. I was off in my imaginary world, creating a world of love, happiness and carefree feelings. I didn't realize how wrapped up I got into things, but a few hours later, I was called down for the Christmas Eve dinner. When I walked into the dining room, I gasped at the sight.

All of the walls had been bedecked with decorations, and the table setting was a theme of red and green, with gold rimmed goblets and gleaming silverware. I realized that I was under dressed for dinner, I ran upstairs and picked out one of my nicest red dresses and put my hair up, hoping that this would be acceptable for Annabelle. I walked downstairs, everyone sitting down at their usual spots, and I took a seat quickly. Nicholas walked in from the kitchen carrying a silver platter with a cover over it, and Annabelle clapped.

"It already smell so wonderful!" Annabelle exclaimed with glee as the dish was sat in the middle of the table, and Nicholas regally removed the lead. Underneath was a wonderfully cooked turkey, steam wafting off of it. I grinned, realizing that I hadn't had a true Christmas dinner since I was 13 years old, and it felt so wonderful to finally have a family and to eat dinner with them. Nicholas eagerly sliced servings for us and in a few minutes, we were all merrily eating Christmas Eve Dinner.

"Rose, you're going to need to pack a bag tonight," Nicholas announced to me. I put my fork on my plate and looked up with my eyebrow raised.

"Why?" I asked.

"We're going to see my parents and Annabelle's parents tomorrow. After we open our gifts, we'll be heading upstate," he explained. Nervousness erupted in my stomach. I was going to meet my adopted grandparents. What were they going to think? We're they going to like me? Did they even known about me? I put the questions away in my mind for later and quietly ate my dinner as everyone else conversed. I could tell by the way that Zach was looking at Annabelle that he was not pleased with her at all, and I knew that he couldn't wait until the holiday cheer was over so that he could scream at her. I dreaded that day already.

Dinner and desert was finished with, and Zach and I were allowed to open one present each. Nicholas went upstairs to retrieve them, and Annabelle, Zach and I sat in the den, next to the Christmas tree, which was decorated to absolute perfection. The lights glittered like colored crystals in the sun, and the ornaments hung proudly on their branches, gleaming in glory. I gaped at the tree, remembering back to the days when I had a true biological family, and we would sit near the tree in the early morning, opening gifts and having a truly wonderful time.

Nicholas returned and handed us large boxes wrapped in shiny green paper, and Zach and I eagerly ripped them open, revealing our gifts. Zach got a sweatshirt with his favorite basketball team on it, and I got a set of perfect writing journals and an editing software for the computer. I thanked both Nicholas and Annabelle heartily, and went upstairs to experiment with it. Later on, I realized that it was Nicholas who had bought me the gift, knowing that Annabelle didn't know anything about me to purchase something like that. I was upstairs, typing and working on a story when Nicholas knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called, not removing my eyes from the story. Nicholas entered and waited for me to turn around.

"How do you like the gift?" He asked as he sat down on my bed.

"I love it. Thank you very much," I said with a beaming smile.

"I'm glad you like it," he said with a big smile. "I wanted to tell you something about tomorrow."

"Do you have a procedure for opening presents?" I asked him. He laughed.

"No, it's about going to see Annabelle's parents," he answered, and I could feel the state of nervousness falling back inside of my heart. "They're not exactly your ordinary people," he said with a chuckle to himself. "They know about you, don't worry." He stood up suddenly and paced the room.

"Annabelle was raised in a strict household. Her parents were firm believers in housework, chores and house rules, and there were consequences if you didn't cooperate. Her parents are cold and harsh, and they don't show very much love toward Annabelle. Just a peck on the cheek to substitute as a true kiss," he said, as if he could know how she grew up. "They might be a little harsh toward you Rose. They don't exactly approve of me taking you in, but please don't let them ruin your holiday. They're in their sixties now, and they really don't know what's going on. So please, bear with them," He asked. I looked down at the floor and nodded. I figured that's how they would be; unwilling, harsh, un-accepting towards me. But I promised Nicholas and myself that I wasn't going to let it bring me down, so I put the thought aside until I came face to face with them.

"What about your parents?" I asked softly. That was when he smiled.

"My parents are the best parents in the world," he said with a rich laugh. "They are going to love you. They've always wanted a granddaughter, and I know that you're not 'biologically' part of our family, but my parents don't care. They're going to treat you like the granddaughter that they've never had, so don't be surprised when they lavish praise on you." The tension on my heart eased up when he said that, and I smiled with relief. "I just wanted to warn you about tomorrow. You'll need to pack a overnight bag for two nights; we'll be staying at my parents holiday home," Nicholas announced, and I nodded. _A holiday home?_

"I'll see you in the morning," Nicholas said, walking over to kiss my cheek before I went to sleep. I changed into my pajamas and slid into my bed. Immediately I was asleep, but dreams came to me in the middle of the night. Instead of dancing sugar plum fairies, I was dreaming of a Christmas past. I was five years old, before my mother died in the spring, and it was glorious Christmas morning, with the gifts stacked high underneath the tree. I remember stumbling down the stairs, eager to rip open the packages, seeing my mother in her robe, drinking a cup of coffee and beaming when I came running into her view.

"Go ahead, open them!" She exclaimed, and with that command, I went to tear open meticulous wrapping and rip open boxes.

"Thank you Mommy and Grandma and Santa Claus!" I cried, running over to my mother to hug her and my Grandmother also. They watched as I played with my brand new barbies and wore my brand new clothes.

Time had passed, and it was the Christmas after my mother had died, and things weren't the same. My mother wasn't waiting at the table for me to rip open my gifts and smile as I showed her everything that I had received from Santa Claus. Grandmother watched, with happy, tearful eyes and the same sorrowful smile she always wore.

"Grandma, can Mommy see me right now?" I asked as I sat in her lap, playing with a new doll. She brushed my locks of hair back and nodded.

"Of course she can sweetheart. She sees everything," she said, hesitating to break down into tears.

"Can she see me when I'm in the potty?" I asked, and Grandmother laughed.

"Yes, sweetheart, she can," she answered, wiping a few lone tears that had trickled down her cheeks.

"Is she drinking her coffee?"

"Yes, she is. In heaven, with God," Grandmother replied. "Go upstairs and play with your new toys. We're going to visit Great Aunt Linda later," she said, setting me on the floor and walking to the stairs. I nodded and ran upstairs, turning around to look at the tree for one moment. And for a brief second, I could see my mother sitting at the table, in her purple fuzzy robe, drinking her coffee, and smiling.

In the morning when I roused myself from my dreams, Zach knocked on my door and then entered.

"Come on!" He cried like a child. I couldn't help but laugh, and he took my hand and we rushed down the stairs to open up our gifts. Nicholas and Annabelle were already there, laughing and watching as we tore and ripped open presents. Finally, after everything had been opened, we went into the dining room to have a Christmas morning breakfast. We conversed lightly about our gifts, and then stuffed our faces, savoring every bite of Nicholas's wonderful cooking. Finally, we brought down our things to be packed in the car.

"Do you want to ride with me? I'm taking my car," Zach offered. I nodded, thinking that the car ride with Zach would be a little better than with Nicholas and Annabelle. I packed my things in Zach's car and we hit the roads quickly, following behind Nicholas's car. Zach put on some rock music, which made some of the time fly, and I started to play with my new laptop that I had received for Christmas.

"Your parents spend a lot on Christmas," I noted as I was uploading some software.

"Yeah, I know. They really don't get the meaning that it's a celebration, it's a free for all at the stores," he said with a laugh. I nodded and watched as the road passed by. We drove silently for a while until we stopped for a late lunch as a road side restaurant. I could tell Nicholas didn't like the food; he was used to eating four star food, but we all swallowed down some lunch and went back to the cars. The ride up to the house wasn't much longer after that, and once we got into a neighborhood, I could tell that these people were extremely rich. The houses were 3, even 4 stories high and were elaborately decorated for the holidays. My heart started pounding as Zach pulled up into the driveway and parked the car. Nicholas and Annabelle had already arrived at the house and were waiting outside.

"Ready?" Nicholas whispered in my ear as we headed to the grand entry. I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat and putting on a warm smile as Annabelle opened the door. We stepped inside, Zach and Nicholas by my side, and I gasped at how ornate the house was. The staircase reached the third floor and wound on the way, the carpet a rich gold. The foyer was painted a light beige, and portraits of Nicholas's family lined the walls. We walked inside to the living room where the parents were sitting, lightly conversing over coffee. Immediately after I saw them, I could tell whose parents were whose. Nicholas's parents leaped from the couch and ran toward him, enveloping him in a giant hug. The laughed and smiled, connecting with each other.

"Nicholas!" His mother cried. He laughed heartily and smiled. He turned his head over his shoulder and looked at me.

"Come here," he whispered, gesturing over to me with hand. I tentatively walked over to them as Nicholas's parents stared at me with awe.

"Rose," Nicholas's mother said, her eyes glittering with excitement. I nodded, sighing as I walked over to greet them. She grinned and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. I could see Nicholas next to me, and I saw that he was beaming with happiness. After I had hugged Nicholas's father, we went in to the living room where the grand tree was. As we were walking in, I saw Annabelle's parents look at me with questionable looks on their faces. Annabelle was softly chatting with them, and as we took our seats at the expensive black leather couch, I could tell that they didn't like me already. Zach sat next to me and leaned over to whisper something in my ear.

"Don't worry about them, they're assholes," he said, keeping his eyes on them. I tittered and hid my smile because they suddenly looked at me.

"Are you guys hungry?" Marie Fugue asked the group.

"No mom, we stopped for lunch on the way, although I wish we didn't," Nicholas said, holding his stomach. His father laughed.

"Oh, stop. It's only because you're used to fine dining," Christopher Fugue replied. I smiled.

"Well, how about anything to drink? I bought some fine wine," Marie asked.

"I'll take a glass," Annabelle said, looking over at Marie. She went into the kitchen as we were left with Annabelle's parents and Nicholas's father.

"So, Rose, what do you like to do?" Christopher asked.

"I'm a writer actually," I said, trying to be modest. I heard a snort from one of Annabelle's parents.

"Writer's don't make very much money, and the sales of their first book could either make them or break them. Most of them bust," Calista Richards snorted. I chewed on my lip, looking over at Nicholas. He shrugged and looked at his father.

"What else do you like to do?" Christopher questioned.

"I like to swim," I offered, thinking of things that enjoyed.

"My dear, you frame is too thin to be a swimmer," Charles Richards criticized. I sighed, not attempting to answer any more questions. Marie came back with a glass of wine for Annabelle and one for herself.

"How have things been at the restaurant?" Marie asked, sipping at the wine.

"Very well," Nicholas answered with a big smile.

"And how is school Zach?"

"Eh, it's alright," he answered with a shrug, looking over at me.

"Good. Well, why don't we start opening the gifts; some of the other guests will be here soon," Marie said, walking over to the tree and grabbing a Santa hat. All of us stood up and went over closer to the tree. Marie walked over to Christopher and placed the hat on his head.

"You're Santa Claus," she sang with a bright smile. He grumbled about it playfully under his breath as he stood up and went to the tree. The gifts were piled three feet high off the ground, wrapped in many different colors of wrapping paper. "Santa Claus" started handing out gifts at random, and the sound of people tearing wrapping paper and opening boxes filled the room along with some soft jazzy Christmas carols in the background. An assortment of gifts were presented to me; a few gift cards to some clothing stores, clothes, books, and decorations from my room. My most valuable gift from my new grandparents was a necklace with a gold pendant shaped like a rose, and the petals on the rose were dark red, clear stones.

"Put it on!" Marie cried with excitement as she put it around my neck. I felt the smooth gold underneath my fingertips and smiled, knowing that what I was wearing was something precious. Everyone had finished opening there gifts and were cleaning up the disastrous room when the doorbell chimed. Marie went to go answer the door as Zach and I were left to pick up the remains of the wrapping paper. Calista and Jackson sneered at me; I probably wasn't picking up the trash like they wanted, and I was building a type of hatred inside of my heart for them. More guests began to rapidly arrive, and soon the living room was packed with people. Zach and I stayed out the way, going outside and watching the gray clouds pass by as we sipped at some wine that Nicholas has slipped us.

"Why are your grandparents so mean?" I asked him as he stared off into the distance.

"I don't know. They grew up with bad times I guess," he suggested, sipping at his glass.

"Do you think that they know about Annabelle's affair?" I questioned him. His fingers tightened around the glass he was holding and he sighed.

"I don't know. I don't even know how they would react," he answered, shaking his head. "They would probably be really pissed off."

"Why?"

"Because they're hungry for money, and obviously my dad has a lot of it, and if mom decided to leave my father for that poor bastard Jonathan Jackson, they would disown her from the family," Zach concluded, and nodded, thinking that it sounded just like something that would happened to the family. Thunder was heard off in the distance, and Zach scoffed.

"Kind of a gloomy Christmas this year weather-wise," Zach muttered, watching as the lightning streaked across the sky.

"I like the gloomy weather actually," I admitted, watching as some of the rain started to splatter on to the ground. We headed for cover, the rain quickly getting heavier, and we went upstairs to get away from the noise. Once we found an empty guest room, we sat down on the bed and stared out the window.

"Is it always like this for you?" I questioned him.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said with a shrug. "But now that you're here, I'm not so bored," he said. Suddenly, he sat up straight and smiled.

"Let's play a game," he burst out, going to the closet to see if they had any board games around. I started to laugh.

"Why?"

"Because we'll be half drunk and it'll be funnier that way," he said, going out of the room to find the games. He found some in the hall closet and put them on the bed.

"Monopoly!" I cried, running over to pull it out of the stack. He shrugged and we plopped down on the thick carpet and set up the game. We got into the game, Zach running downstairs to steal another bottle of wine as we continued to bill each other for hotels and tease each other.

"You owe me $500 for Mediterranean!" I cried, pointing at the board game. Hours had passed and night was falling quickly. The rain still pounded on the roof harshly and the party was still going on downstairs.

"What! That's preposterous!" Zach yelled, shaking his head. "You owe me $300!"

"I do not!" I shrieked as I poured myself more wine. We kept yelling and screaming for a while, we finally got things settled and continued playing the game until I ran out of money and had to start selling properties for money. After a few hours, we called it quits, Zach winning the game and an entire bottle of wine was finished.

"I told you I would win!" Zach slurred slightly, a rosy tint to his cheeks.

"Whatever Zach!" I answered back. Suddenly, the door flew open and Calista Richards was standing there, her eyes wide from shock.

"_What are you two doing!"_ She screamed. We scrambled to our feet, kicking the empty bottle underneath the bed and just stared at her. My head was light and I was feeling a little dizzy from the wine. She hastily walked forward and grabbed then neck of the bottle from underneath the bed and held it up.

"A whole bottle!" She shrieked.

"And two glasses," Zach added. I looked over at him, slightly giggling, but ceased when she wasn't laughing.

"You two, come with me!" She hissed, grabbing us and throwing us out the door. I almost fell flat on my face as we walked down the hall and down the stairs to the back entrance of the kitchen where Nicholas and Annabelle were standing, talking with their parents. Nicholas turned to us and frowned, knowing that something was not right.

"Nicholas. Annabelle," Calista snapped so hard I flinched as she said their names. They stepped forward and Calista ushered us out of the kitchen and into the back rooms where no one could hear.

"Do you know what I just found these two doing?" she said so sharp, I was getting a headache.

"What's going on here Calista?" Nicholas asked.

"Zachary and the girl were upstairs playing a board game and drinking _alcohol. _A whole bottle!" She hissed, holding up the evidence.

"My name is Rose!" I cried. "Not 'the girl'!"

"Do not speak unless it is ordered!" Calista screamed at me. I turned to her and got a good look at her. She was in her late sixties, with graying brown hair and cold, black eyes. Her nose was long and pointed and at the moment she had a snarl on her light pink lips. I stared at her with narrowed eyes and watched as she turned away. "Get control of these children!"

"They're not children Calista; they're juniors in high school," Nicholas defended us.

"Nicholas, you must not be understanding the point. They drank a whole bottle of wine, _expensive_ wine, and you permitted them to be alone! Upstairs! God knows what else could have gone on up there!"

"Nothing else went on up there!" Zach bellowed, turning to the old woman.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that Zachary!" Calista yelled. My headache was growing worse, and every time she yelled, I flinched.

"Stop yelling!" I said, putting my hands over my ears. I caught a glimpse of Annabelle and all I could see was the disapproval on her face.

"You must punish these _children," _she replied. "A good whipping is in order!"

"NO!" Zach, Nicholas and I screamed in unison. _What year is she living in, 1950?_

"I will deal with this," Nicholas decided, grabbing our hands and pulling us away from Calista. "They are my children, and I will deal with them!" He took us out of the kitchen and back upstairs to where we were playing Monopoly.

"A whole bottle Zach?" Nicholas asked with great question in his voice.

"I know, I got carried away, I'm sorry," Zach answered, looking down at the ground.

"Where did you get it anyway?"

"I snuck downstairs and got it while you were out in the living room," Zach confessed.

"We're sorry Nicholas," I said softly, hoping that he wasn't too mad at me.

"Now it doesn't even look like I can control my own children!" He bellowed. I flinched because he was so loud, but I understood everything he had said. "I wouldn't be this mad if we were at home, but since we are here, with the grandparents from hell, it's even worse." He paced the room and shook his head.

"I'm going downstairs to put a pot of coffee on for you so that you can sober up. Clean up the board game while I'm gone," he commanded, storming out of the room. Zach and I looked at each other, a world full of regret in our eyes as we cleared the streets of Boardwalk and Park Place and put the game back in the closet. We sat on the bed, waiting until Nicholas has brought us coffee, which was black.

"Drink this," he said, handing us each a warm mug.

"Is she flaming mad?" Zach asked. Nicholas sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes. She's screaming in the kitchen at Annabelle and I, but the guests have no idea, as usual," he said, sitting next to us.

"Well, it'll be a memorable Christmas for everyone then," Zach said, slurping up his coffee. I chuckled, realizing I had come into their lives with a bang and would leave an impression that would never leave them. Nicholas couldn't help but laugh and then sighed.

"Maybe they'll never talk to me again. That would only be too good to be true," he muttered, chuckling. "Finish this coffee and get ready for bed. It's getting pretty late," he advised, standing up. "I"m sorry that I yelled at you guys, but you have to understand that I was a little peeved," he said as he went to the door. "Let's just forget about it, OK?"

"Sure," Zach and I both answered. Nicholas smiled walked out the door and I turned to Zach.

"They probably won't be coming back next year, will they?" I questioned him as I stood up.

"No, probably not," Zach said with a laugh.

"Good." I paused as I walked to the door. "Zach, thank you for a good, memorable good Christmas."

He stared at me for a second. "Shut up and go to bed," he said, turning away. "But you're welcome."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After I had roused myself from Christmas sleep, a heavy headache greeted me in the morning. I rolled out of bed, going into the bathroom and searching in the medicine cabinet for some aspirin. After I had found a bottle, I swallowed them with a quick gulp of water and slipped into the shower. The warm water drumming on my body was a nice wake up call, and after I had finished showering, I sat in the bathroom and relaxed in the steamy room. I stepped out of the bathroom, looking at the clock and realizing that I might be late for breakfast, I picked out a quick outfit to put on and went downstairs for breakfast.

As I was walking down, I had already anticipated that the tension was going to be thick at the breakfast table because of me and Zach's episode last night. Calista and Charles were surely going to be giving me evil looks at the table, and because of that, I avoided the dining room. The house was still quiet; faint noises from the kitchen were heard as breakfast was being prepared, and there was no sign of Zach, Nicholas or Annabelle. I decided to venture the house instead out of curiosity. In the den of the great house, a large, magnificent piano sat in the middle of the room, the sunlight bouncing off it. Immediately, I was drawn to it, and I sat down at the polished bench and lifted the cover off of the keys. Something inside of me was pulling me toward it, signaling to me that I should play a few notes. My hands lifted themselves onto the black and white ivory keys, and slowly lowered them to play a chord. My fingers had a mind of their own, and soon, I was playing a mournful song on the piano.

The song had finished, and my hands lifted off the keys and sat in my lap, and I stared at them, feeling amazed, curious, and terrified all at the same time. Where had I learned to play the piano? Questions raced through my mind, and I leaped from the bench and slammed the cover down on the keys and shook my head. How did I know how to play?

"That was wonderful Rose. I didn't know that you knew how to play the piano," I heard from behind me, and I turned around to see Annabelle at the den entrance, Zach by her side. I blinked a few times and looked up.

"I didn't know that I knew how to do that either," I said softly, trying to reach into the depths of my brain to find this lost talent. Annabelle gave me a puzzled look and walked into the dining room, while Zach still stood there.

"How are you this morning? Does your head feel like it's been pressed between two boulders?" He asked as I walked toward him.

"I took some aspirin, but I still have a faint headache," I explained, still baffled at what I had done.

"You don't remember learning how to play piano?"

"No, I don't," I murmured. "It must have been..."

"Been what?"

"When I was in boarding school," I quickly concluded. Zach shrugged and we headed toward the dining room together. Calista and Charles were already seated at the table, Charles at one end and Calista at the other. They looked regal with their spines as straight as rods, their noses high in the air. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Calista's eyes had narrowed into tiny slits as we entered the dining room, and she held her posture higher, if it was possible. Annabelle instructed us where to sit, and we waited for Nicholas and his parents to arrive. They were in the kitchen, whipping up a wonderful gourmet breakfast for us all. A few moments of awkwardness passed over at the table and suddenly they burst out of the kitchen doors, carrying trays of food. They placed them on the table and took their seats, Nicholas looking over at me and smiling.

"How is everyone this morning?" Marie asked. "Oh, help yourselves," she said with a laugh. Everyone reached forward to serve themselves as they mumbled their quick responses. Light conversation was floating around the table; one of the conversations being about my piano skills this morning.

"Nicholas, did you know that Rose knows how to play the piano?" Annabelle asked nonchalantly. Nicholas's eyes sparkled with interest.

"She did? I had no idea," he said, his eyes locked on me. Suddenly I was the topic of discussion at the table and my cheeks flamed red.

"Yes; As I was walking downstairs this morning I heard her play a wonderful song. What was that Rose?"

"I have no idea," I said, shaking my head with desperation. I really did want to know how long ago I learned how to play the piano and what song I had played.

"Well then, maybe we should hire a private teacher to come out to the house to give you lessons. Would you like that?" Nicholas asked. I darted my eyes over to Calista, and from what I saw, a tiny speck of approval glimmered in her eyes. I didn't care if I pleased her with these piano lessons, but I did want them.

"Yes, I do very much," I replied, taking a sip of my orange juice. Nicholas smiled.

"Good, then it's settled. We'll take care of it when we get home," he said and bit into his breakfast. I smiled, grateful that he was going out of his way to please me, and I loved him for it.

The mood lightened a little bit at the table, and soon, breakfast was finished. Everyone helped cleaned; even Calista and Charles, which surprised me, and soon, we packed our things and were ready to leave the house. Nicholas's parents were outside with us to see us off, and Marie pulled me aside and hugged me.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to meet you or spend time with you," she said. "But I promise me and the old guy will come down and spend the weekend with you."

I was moved. We had no blood relation to each other; we were practically strangers to each other, but hearing what she had to say moved me to tears. She smiled, kissed my cheek and patted my back. I went to put my things in Zach's trunk and said one last goodbye to my new grandparents. Annabelle and her parents were quietly talking, a stern look upon all of their faces, and they finally said goodbye to each other, barely giving each other hugs. I shook my head as I got into the car, looking over to see that Calista was staring at me, her eyes cold and beady and she crossed her arms across her chest and sighed. I shut the door, shutting her out of my heart and turned to Zach.

"Let's get out of here," I pleaded. He grinned and started the car, peeling out of the driveway and out onto the road.

"Did you have any fun?" He asked.

"Yeah, a little bit."

"Well, I have to say, playing drunk monopoly was the highlight of this Christmas, besides getting that autographed basketball," Zach said with a big grin on his face.

"I guess. Too bad it was spoiled with Calista," I thought out loud. "Why did she think that something was going to happen between us?"

Zach was silent for a moment.

"Last Christmas, I was able to bring my girlfriend at the time, Diana Kruger up to the cabin with us. My parents trusted me and my grandparents had another one of their boring adult parties, just like they do every Christmas. So Diana and I snuck upstairs, with a bottle of wine and had a few glasses before things got a little crazy," Zach explained. "Next thing I knew we were ripping our clothes off and were about to do it before Calista discovered us."

I sat there, wide eyed. "You really did that?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"So pretty much, they don't trust me anymore, and that's why Calista thought that. She's a tad crazy," Zach replied. I nodded. That seemed right. "But maybe we'll have to play drunk Monopoly again; that was pretty fun."

"I don't plan on getting drunk for a while Zach," I answered with a laugh. "At least not until it is legal."

Zach scoffed and turned his eyes to the road.

"Well, now that Christmas is over, I get to finally yell at Mom for her secret affair," Zach said on a happier note. I turned toward him.

"Are you so bent on revenge that you can't wait to scream at her?" I asked him. He turned towards me.

"Put yourself in my shoes, Rose," he urged. Pretend your mother is having an affair with a kid, a teenage boy, and she lies to you about loving your father and about hating sex. It's not exactly the greatest situation," he said, locking his eyes on the road.

"I'm sorry Zach, I know that it's a bad situation for you, but please, don't ruin what would be my first real Christmas," I pleaded, touching his shoulder. He turned his head toward me, stared at me for a second, and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he mumbled, accelerating. I leaned back and closed my eyes, not realizing how tired I was until I had closed my eyes. I slowly drifted to sleep to the soft radio in the background and the sound of the engine, and before I knew it, we were at home.

"Get up Rose," Zach said, lightly shaking my shoulder. I woke myself up and stumbled out of the car, going to the trunk to get some of my things to bring into the house. It was mid afternoon now, and the clouds made a threat of rain as we carried our gifts inside the house. We put everything away neatly upstairs in our room, and I went lay down just as my phone rang. I reached over to answer it, wondering who it was that could have been calling me.

"Hello?"

"Rose?" I heard, and I shot straight up.

"Stephen!" I cried happily, so relieved that it was him.

"Hi," he said with a laugh.

"Hi, how are you?" I asked, running my hands through my hair as I sat against the headboard.

"Pretty good. I called yesterday and nobody had answered. I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas. Where were you?"

"Oh, goodness, I forgot to tell you. We went up to Nicholas's and Annabelle's parents holiday cabin to spend the day up there with them," I explained. I went on to explain how cold Annabelle's parents were and how nice Nicholas's parents treated me, and the incident the night before.

"You got drunk and played monopoly?" He asked.

"I know. I lost control. I feel really stupid about it now," I said. "I promise it will not happen again."

"I know, it's really no big deal. I used to shoplift Hershey's candy bars from the drug store across the street, so I'm not saying that I have a clean conscience myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but that was in seventh grade. A long time ago. So tell me what else has been going on," he asked. I remembered that I had to tell him about the Christmas party and what I had done to Andrew, and slowly, I preceded to tell him. He was silent for a few seconds, which felt like stabs in the heart.

"Wow," he said. My heart instantly sunk, thinking that he was really going to be disappointed in me.

"He didn't really kiss you did he?"

"No! Not at all!" I cried. "He tried to kiss me on the neck, but that's when I warned him that he wouldn't be fooling around with girls anymore."

He laughed, which was a relief for me. "Just don't do anything wild before I get home. I'm only here for a few more days, and then we're coming home."

"I really can't wait to see you. I've missed you so much."

"I'll be home soon, I promise," he said, and my heart melted. He started to tell me what he did during his vacation. He went paint balling, opened his gifts yesterday morning with his family, and just hung out around the house. I smiled, glad that he was having a good time, and then he had to go. He was on his grandmother's cell phone and she only had so many long distance minutes. I said a long goodbye to him and hung up, sighing. I wanted him to come home right now at this instant and run into his arms and hold me forever, but I remembered that I had to wait a few days before I could do that.

I went downstairs to entertain myself; to go find Zach or Nicholas and be with them, but I walked by the family room, where Nicholas had his grand piano. I was drawn to it instantly and went to sit down at the bench and glide my fingers over the keys. They felt so smooth underneath my fingertips, and they pressed down and made a chord that rang in the air. My hands had a mind of their own by now, and they were traveling up and down the keys, and the song came to it's climax. I sat there, staring when Nicholas walked in.

"Rose, where did you really learn how to play piano?" He asked, walking over and sitting down next to me on the bench.

"I don't know, Nicholas. I honestly don't know," I replied dreamily, the keys putting me in a trance.

"How do you not remember?"

"I don't know. My memory fades in an out because..." I roused myself out of my trance and realized that I hadn't explained to Nicholas that my memory had been wiped clean when I was five years old.

"Because of what?" He held his breath in anticipation.

"Shortly after my mother's death, my mind hadn't come to realize that my mother was dead and that she was never coming back. I had claimed to see her and feel her around me, and my grandmother was so upset that I couldn't face the fact that she had been killed. So she took me to a psychiatrist and had given me electroshock therapy treatments to wipe the murder out of mind. Ironically, it still lingers but other things had disappeared in my mind," I answered him, thinking back on this time. "I must have learned how to play the piano at the Academy and my mind must have forgotten it," I reasoned, shaking my head.

"I didn't know that," he said quietly. "You've been through rough times."

"Yes," I said, folding my hands in my lap. Nicholas rubbed my shoulders and smiled.

"I called the piano teacher. His name his Raymond Wilmont and he will be coming by next Monday. He's a piano professor at one of the community colleges around here."

"Thank you," I said, putting a smile on my face. "I really appreciate this."

"I'll do anything to make you happy Rose," he said in a serious tone. I nodded, believing that he would, and I stood up and shrugged.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and write a little bit," I announced. He nodded and rose from the bench and followed me out. I went upstairs into my room and scrawled my thoughts into a journal before going downstairs to talk with Zach. He was downstairs in the living room, sitting in front of the TV with a few friends by his side, playing a football video game. They laughed and cheered and didn't even realize that I was in the room until Zach had turned around.

"Oh, I didn't know that you were standing there," he said, handing his controller to someone else and standing up. I shrugged in response.

"When did everyone get here?" I asked, seeing that all of the boys had turned to look at me. Andrew was one of them at the crowd, and when our eyes locked, he guiltily shifted his away. I smiled.

"Just a few minutes ago. Do you want to play?" He asked, gesturing toward the game.

"I don't know how to use one of those things," I replied, wishing that I hadn't said that in front of all of the boys. _Now the must think I'm really stupid_, I thought.

"Well, we'll teach you," he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me over there. Zach handed me his controller and showed me how to use it, and the games started again. I didn't really like the football game, but it was pretty fun. They boys ended up beating me pretty badly, but they said that I was pretty good at it for it being my first time. I smiled, glad that they didn't think that I was a complete fool, and they invited me to stay and watch a movie with them. They popped in a funny comedy movie, and everyone was laughing hysterically, even myself. Zach smiled, happy that I was enjoying myself with his friends. The movie ended and Zach's friends wanted to go out and do something on the roads.

"Let's just drive around and do something. Do some damage to the town," Daryl suggested with an impish grin on his face.

"Fine," Zach suggested. We headed outside to the cars and spilt up, all of us following Zach's lead.

"Are you always the ring leader?" I asked him as we sped downtown. He grinned.

"You could say that," he said as his cellphone rang. He answered it, listening to the other person on the end of the line. He suddenly burst into a wide grin and made a sharp turn to the left.

"Where are we going Zach?" Daryl asked as Zach went even faster.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled, darting his eyes at me as he dared to drive even faster. Soon we were going 70 on an empty street, and I started panic.

"Zach, you're going a little fast," I reminded him. He laughed as if it were no big deal, and made another sharp turn down a dirt road. The dirt flew around us as we headed toward a large plantation style house at the end of the road. The other car pulled up beside us and we all got out. It was getting darker now and the clouds once again threatened rain.

"This is the McCullough Plantation house Rose," Zach announced. I turned toward the house and shiver, a bad feeling crawling up my spine. "About 150 years ago, Robert McCullough lived in this house with his wife and his three kids, all of them girls. He ran a cotton plantation and had lots of slaves on hand to help him. He wasn't exactly nice to his slaves when they were out in the field, and one night, all of the slaves decided to rebel against their master and the family, and went on a killing rampage. The family was killed and the slaves ran from the plantation, never to be found.

"A lot of people say that the house is haunted; the family doesn't rest in peace and are still waiting for the slaves to come back so that they could get their revenge. So, we decided that we're going to spend a little while inside the house, just to prove the rumor true or false," Zach concluded. I looked at all of his friends, some of them wearing smiles, some of them looking dead serious.

"Why?" I asked. It came upon us so suddenly that we had decided to do this, I was suspicious.

"Just because. Look, I won't let anything happen Rose, I promise," Zach said, drawing closer to me. I looked back at the other boys and decided that it was harmless fun. Zach smiled, took my arm and pulled me to the house as the others followed. The house was badly out of shape; it had been abandon and was falling apart. As we entered, some of the old furnishings were in the house, covered with layers of dust and cobwebs from the spiders that now occupied the house. We all walked carefully as if the floorboards were about to break and glanced around the house, our ears opened for anything. The anticipation in the air was thick, and by the time we had reached the staircase, I had wanted to get out of the house. But I wanted to prove these boys wrong; to show them that I wasn't scared of a stupid house, so I didn't say a word. In the distance, something clattered to the floor and all of us jumped, including Zach.

"It was probably nothing," he concluded, shrugging it off. He started to climb the staircase, warning us that it was about to go at any second, so we all cautiously walked up the stairs and explored the bedrooms.

"See, not so bad," Zach assured me as we went into one of the kid's rooms. Some of the other boys wanted to go explore downstairs and see what was down in the basement, so we decided to spilt into two teams. We still ventured upstairs, and I started shivering because of the cold. Zach offered me his sweatshirt and I put it on, smiling at the scent of the cologne he wore, and we made our way to the master bedroom.

"This is where the first murder occurred," he said to the group. "They were slaughtered in their sleep." Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flashing light and turned around to see what it was. Nothing was behind me, and we continued to move around. Daryl decided to go downstairs, claiming that he had to use the bathroom, so he left the group, and all that were left were me, Zach, and Danny. Zach decided that he wanted to go into the playroom, and behind me, I thought I heard a floorboard squeak.

"What was that?" I asked quickly, running out of breath.

"Nothing Rose, it's an old house," Zach convinced me. I realized that I was freaking out about something little, so I tried to ease up and enjoy the tour. When we got into the playroom, a bolt of lightning flashed in the air and I thought I saw a brief figure standing near the window. My heart started to pound as Zach looked underneath the beds, in the toy boxes, and just looked around.

"I guess this place isn't too interesting after all," he said with some sadness in his voice.

"Good, let's get out of here," Danny suggested.

"Maybe if we just wait a little longer something will happen," Zach said with some hope in his voice. Another bolt of lightning streaked in the sky and I could clearly tell that there was someone at the window.

"Zach, I think that there's someone at the window," I said softly. He walked over and checked to see if anyone was there.

"Nobody's here Rose. I think you're just freaking yourself out a little bit. Maybe we should leave," he

said with some hesitation in his voice. The rain started to lightly pour, and just as we were about to leave the room, a loud creaking sound came from behind us. We spun around, seeing that it was the closet door that was slowly swinging open.

"It's the storm. Come on, let's go," Zach urged us, but Danny stayed frozen.

"Wait," he whispered. Chills erupted on my skin and traveled throughout my body as the door suddenly stopped, and we waited.

"It's nothing, let's go," Zach demanded and I turned around to leave the room when I ran into someone in the doorway.

"Sorry," I said, thinking that it was Daryl returning to the group, when I looked up and saw that it wasn't Daryl. It was a tall man, dressed in a tuxedo with bowler's hat on. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around and dragged me down the stairs, and I started screaming and fighting back.

"Let me go!" I screamed, trying to get his hands off of me. I couldn't hear Zach or Danny behind me, and I had wondered if they had been taken to. I was taken outside and sat down in a chair where other people surrounded me. It was completely dark save for the lightning that occasionally lit the sky, but I couldn't see what was going on and who these people were.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted, realized that I was being tied to the chair and I tried my hardest to get out of their grip. They tied me successfully and stood there watching me, and I was pleading that there was light around somewhere so that I could see something. As my wish had been answered, a light flashed on my face, and for a moment, I couldn't see. After my eyes had adjusted to the light, I could see all of Zach's friends standing around me, smiling and laughing. Zach pushed through the crowd and stood in front of me, looking down at me.

"Get me out of here!" I screamed with rage. He chuckled to himself and he came from behind me and untied the rope. I leaped from the chair and pushed out of the circle and turned toward them.

"What were you doing to me? Was this some kind of sick joke!" I yelled. Zach came forward and took my hand, but I pushed him away.

"I'm sorry Rose, we couldn't help ourselves," he said, trying to keep a straight face. I pushed away

from him and started to walk away toward the cars.

"It wasn't funny!" I screamed back at them as the rain lightly poured down on me. Zach ran forward, somehow retrieving an umbrella and holding it over me.

"Come on! What are you doing?" He asked after I didn't stop at his car.

"I'm not riding back with you! You're the one who set this all up!" I shrieked at him.

"Rose, you don't know how to get home; you can't just walk until you find it," Zach said. He grabbed my arm, and because he was stronger than me, he pulled me toward him. "We're sorry. It was a stupid joke. It was obviously not funny. Now get in the damn car, and you can be mad at me later." The other boys had circled around us, and I shook my head, stomping over to the car.

"Well, she's one hell of a fighter," Andrew murmured to Zach as I sat down in the car. I slammed the door, seeing that he was going to try to talk to me, but I wouldn't listen. He sat next to me in the driver's seat and sighed.

"Why would you do that?" I asked him as he started the car.

"We just wanted to have some fun," he answered.

"That scared me so much!" I yelled at him. I grunted in anger and pouted as we drove back. Once I saw that we weren't going home, I turned to him.

"Take me home!" I ordered. He shook his head, pulling into a drive-in ice cream parlor.

"What do you want?" He asked calmly.

"Nothing from you," I spat. The intercom came on and Zach ordered two vanilla milkshakes to go. I looked at him and shook my head. He was a stupid boy, I thought. He handed me my shake and I just stared at it.

"Please eat it," he asked as we pulled out and headed toward home. I picked up the spoon and took a few bites and glared at Zach. He just smiled and shook his head, and soon, we were in the driveway of the house. I hurried inside, avoiding Nicholas and Annabelle, and Zach chased after me.

"Don't you realize I can run just as fast as you can?" He asked as he caught up to me at my door.

"I don't want to talk to you right now," I said, opening my door and slamming it, but Zach pushed it back open.

"Okay, I'm sorry. How many more times am I going to have to tell you? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he pleaded, getting down on his knees. I stared at him.

"If you wake up in the middle of the night with someone holding a knife over you, don't be surprised, it'll only be a joke," I answered dryly, sitting down on my bed.

"You wouldn't really do that would you?" He asked, his eyes going wide. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Get out of here," I said. He stood up, smiled and hurried out of the room. I sat down on my bed and decided to turn in early. School was going to start in two weeks, and as soon as the holiday break would be over, Zach would immediately jump on Annabelle about her affair with Jonathan Jackson. I only hoped that blood wouldn't be spilled.


	11. Chapter 10

Sorry for the long wait!!! I've been really busy and haven't been able to write! And I've had a writers block as well! Please read and review and tell me what you think!!

Chapter 10

The holiday week had passed by, and soon, school was about to begin. I was glad to be going back. Just as Zach had promised, he was going to his mother to confront her about her affair between Jonathan. I begged, pleaded with him not to yell and scream, but he couldn't make any promises. He would be as calm as he could when he was talking to her.

School had resumed, and things had gone back to their normal pace. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Mr. Wilmont came out to the house to teach my lessons. He was a very quiet, soft spoken young man who played the piano so wonderfully. On our first lesson, he asked me if I could play anything, and I played him the piece that had lingered in my memory. He closed his eyes and listened and after I played the piece, he sat there and was thinking.

"Who is that written by? It's a wonderful piece. It sounds like Bach," he said, stroking his short goatee.

"I don't know...My mother taught it to me," I lied. I didn't want to explain to him my family history and it would have been a lot easier for the both of us.

"Interesting piece, Rose. Do you have the sheet music for it? I have an upcoming concert and I would love to play it."

"No, she never gave it to me. I never found it," I said, keeping the lies short and as void as possible.

"Hmm. Well, let's get into the lesson."

We spent two hours each day, practicing scales, learning how to read music and rhythms. All in all, it was very productive. I practiced often, and as I did, I would always see Nicholas standing in the doorway, smiling with pride as I played.

"You're very good," he announced after I had finished a piece by Mozart.

"I'm not that good yet," I said with a smile.

"You'll be great. Don't worry," he said, patting me on the shoulder. I nodded and continued to practice. This type of routine went on for weeks, until a certain someone showed up at our door.

I was sitting in the den, watching the news when Richard walked in the doorway.

"A Jonathan Jackson is here to see you, miss," he said. My heart stopped and I looked around the room.

"Richard, make sure that Zach is not here to see him," I said, leaping from the couch to find Jonathan. He was waiting once again in Nicholas's office, smoking his expensive Cuban cigars and having a drink. He smiled when I entered the room.

"Rose, how nice to see you," he said, standing up to greet me. He gave me a tight hug and kissed me on the cheek, close to my lips. I stood cold and rigid.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped, glaring at him.

"I have come to talk to you," he said with an impish grin. "About you know what."

"Jonathan, I don't want to be involved in this in any way," I said, turning to walk out the door. Jonathan came to catch up with me and grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him.

"Please, Rose, don't run out on me," he whispered, looking down at me with lovesick eyes. I glared at him.

"Don't drag me into this. I don't want any part of this."

"I haven't come to drag you into this. Just to talk," he murmured, lowering his head to mine. He eyes drooped with desire and I immediately pulled away from him.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" I asked him.

"I want to talk about my relationship with Annabelle. You haven't told anybody, have you?" He asked with some hope.

"No," I lied. "I haven't told anybody."

"Good, good, that works out just fine. Now, Annabelle and I have been talking about a few things. First off, she wants to leave Nicholas. He doesn't love her, and obviously she doesn't love him, so we figured it would be the best for everyone."

I stared at him with my mouth open. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. We're going to move up north, probably New York or something. Annabelle likes it there. We'll get married when her divorce is final, and we'll start a new life together."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was he really serious?

"You're 17 years old! How can you be in love with this woman?" I yelled. His eyes widened as he urged me to quiet down.

"Love doesn't always matter. I'm sure you're not in love with that Stephen boy," he said, coming closer to me. I shook my head.

"I do love him. How dare you say that?" I asked him.

"Rose, nowadays, looks are the only things that matter. Annabelle is beautiful, and she will raise my social status so much. Come on Rose, you can't say that you don't look for looks," he whispered, bringing me close to him and trying to kiss me. I started screaming.

"ZACH! ZACH!" I screamed, trying to pry Jonathan away from me. He smacked me and brought me closer to him.

"Shut up Rose, if you know what's good for you," he grunted, reaching for the buttons on my blouse and started to rip it apart. I continued screaming as loud as I could, and soon Zach burst through the office doors, coming at Jonathan Jackson with full rage.

"Get your damn hands off of her!" He screamed, leaping at him and throwing him to the ground. I quickly covered myself up and backed out of the way. They fell to the floor, Zach throwing a few good punches at Jonathan as he tried to get up.

"Rose, get my mother," Zach yelled, nearly choking Jonathan. I ran upstairs and burst into Annabelle's room, out of breath.

"Rose, what's going on?" She asked, putting down her blush brush at her vanity table.

"Come quickly," I gasped, running back down the stairs, Annabelle hot at my heels. We both entered the office, and when Annabelle saw Jonathan on the ground being beaten by Zach, she turned pale and let out a deadly shriek.

"Zach! Stop! Stop!" She cried as she grabbed her sons shoulders and ripped him off as best as she could. It took both of us to get him off of Jonathan, and when we did, we had to hold him down.

"What the hell is going on here?" Annabelle asked.

"You know _exactly_ what is going on here, _mother_," he spat at her. She turned to Jonathan.

"He knows, Annabelle, and I know too," I said, glaring at her.

"Knows about what? This is all silly," she said, forcing laughter.

"Don't play innocent, you slut!" Zach screamed. I even flinched at his harsh words. "You're sleeping with this son of a bitch _who is just as old as me!_" Annabelle looked like she wanted to die.

"Jonathan-,"

"You little bitch! You said that you didn't tell anybody," Jonathan screamed at me.

"Well, I guess I lied," I said, glaring at him.

"You knew?" Annabelle asked me. I nodded.

"How could you do this to Nicholas? How could to lie to everyone? To cheat?!" I screamed at her.

"Rose, you don't understand-,"

"It's not like he's never done this to me before!" She retorted.

"That doesn't matter!" I screamed back, but she did have a small point.

"I hope that you leave this place and never come back! I _never_ want to see you again!" Zach screamed. Tears sprang down Annabelle's face.

"Zach, you don't mean that," she said softly.

"Yes I do! Take him and your stupid stuff and get out! You're evil! I HATE YOU!" Zach continued to vent. "Did you think that you could get away with it all?"

"Zach, stop." She pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

"What is going on?" I heard behind me, and I turned to see Nicholas standing in the doorway, a puzzled look on his face. I wanted to sob.

"Nicholas, don't believe them. They're lying-"

"Stop Annabelle!" I screamed. The room was silent. "Nicholas, Annabelle is having an affair with this _boy,_" I said. His face didn't change. He stood there, staring off into space, and then calmly walked away. Annabelle ran after him, and I went to go and talk to Nicholas, but Zach grabbed my arm.

"This is something that they need to talk about," he said softly. "Go upstairs."

"Not until he leaves," I snapped, turning to him. Already, his eyes were black and blood dripped from his broken nose.

"Get out. Before I throw you out," Zach growled. Jonathan clumsily stood to his feet and started to walk toward us. Zach grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to him.

"You say _one word_ about this, and you'll regret it quickly," Zach threatened. Jonathan held his head high as he walked out of the door and out of the house. After he was gone, I burst into tears.

"Zach, that was terrifying," I said, trying to calm myself down, but seeing Zach nearly rip Jonathan to pieces didn't settle me. He pulled me into his embrace.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that," he said. "But don't cry."

"Why? Annabelle and Nicholas are fighting upstairs, and you nearly killed a guy, all because I walked into the office and saw them together. This is all my fault."

"This isn't your fault. Why do you put the blame on yourself?"

"I don't know," I sobbed.

"Come on, grab your coat and we'll go somewhere while they talk," Zach said, grabbing his keys and walking to his car. I looked up at the master bedroom and saw the muffled sounds of Annabelle and Nicholas arguing. I shook my head and sat in Zach's car as he sped off in one direction.

"I wish that I had never walked into that room that night," I muttered looking down at my feet.

"I'm glad that you did. Things would have been much worse," Zach replied. I rested my head against the window of the car and closed my eyes. _I wish Stephen was here..._

Zach and I drove around pointlessly for a good half an hour, and then decided to head home. The house was quiet, unnaturally quiet as we stepped inside and looked around. Nothing had been broken, everything was in its place, and no fighting was happening. Zach and I charged up the steps and slowly tiptoed toward the master bedroom. Silence. Zach went to go see if Annabelle had been in a different room and I slowly pushed open their door to see Nicholas sitting on his bed, his head low.

"Nicholas?" I barely uttered, afraid he would shatter. He looked up and stared at me. Usually when he saw me, his eyes would sparkle and his smile lit up the whole room, but Nicholas did not smile.

"She's gone," he whispered. I fled to his side and wrapped my arms around.

"Nicholas I'm so sorry this is-"

"Don't put the blame on yourself," he immediately said, tilting my chin up. "This was her doing. She brought this upon everyone. But now she is gone."

"But I was the one to discover them. I was-"

"Rose, stop!" He said. That was the only time he had ever been forceful with me. I shut up. He stood up and shook his head.

"I don't know where she went. I don't care. I never want to see her again."

My heart was breaking. I never wanted to see him unhappy, considering he was a very upbeat person.

"Don't worry about me Rose. I'll be fine. You need to do your homework," he said, turning away from me. I walked out of his room, shut the door and saw Zach standing there.

"I heard."

I nodded. "I have some homework to take care of," I mumbled, brushing past him and going into my room. I tried to concentrate as best as I could on my homework, but my mind always lingered to the fighting that had occurred hours before. After a while, I couldn't take anymore of it, and I finally went to sleep, having a nightmare about Zach murdering Annabelle and Jonathan.

Days had turned into weeks, and weeks had turned into months, and there was still no word from Annabelle. Nicholas seemed happy, but turmoil bubbled inside of him. I tried to help him everyday, but he pleaded that he didn't need my help; time would fix everything. I let the situation die and let time fix things.

My piano lessons had progressed every week, and at the end of the school year, all of the performing arts students participated in the spring concert, and I was performing along with them. I had perfected a piece Mr. Wilmont had given me; a variation of Bach. I practice more and picked at everything that was wrong with it until I thought that it was absolutely perfect. Nicholas and Zach would be there, along with Stephen and my closest friends, so this performance was very important to me. The day of the concert had arrived, and I was racked with nerves. Zach and Nicholas had tried to calm me down, but I still had butterflies flying around in my stomach.

We arrived at the school, and I went to the auditorium to warm up and play a few notes when Stephen came up from behind me and hugged me.

"It sounded great," he said. I turned around and leaned in to kiss him.

"I'm so nervous," I stammered, looking at the crowd that was taking their seats.

"You'll do fine. You're great."

"I'm still nervous," I said, sitting down at the piano bench. He rubbed my shoulders.

"Stop it. I have to go. I'll see you on the stage," he said with one final kiss before he ran off. I waited backstage and listened to some of the performing groups. Many of them were very talented, and I was scared that I wasn't going to be as good as they were. Finally, the director announced my name, and I slowly walked out onto the stage, sat down at the piano bench, and sighed. I flipped open the book to my music, placed my fingers on the smooth ivory keys and began to play. At first, my eyes read bar line to bar line, but after things started to go well, I took my eyes away from the music and darted my eyes into the audience, seeing Nicholas, Zach and Stephen beaming with pride as I played. I stumbled on one note, but was hardly noticeable, and I was finished with the piece. The crowd gave me a standing ovation and I quickly scurried off of the stage, sighing as my body started to loosen up. I exited from backstage and went to go sit with Nicholas and Zach.

"You did wonderful! It was awesome!" They both cried as the next performer stepped onto the stage. Zach handed me a dozen red roses and Nicholas handed me a white one. I watched the rest of the performances and then headed outside. Stephen pulled me aside to say a long goodbye.

"I'm very proud of you," he said, kissing my cheeks. I beamed.

"I could tell," I replied with an impish grin. He wrapped his hand in mine and he walked me to the car.

"Want to come over to my house after school tomorrow?" He asked me.

"I'll see what Nicholas has to say about it, OK?" I said, kissing him lightly on the lips, teasing him. He grabbed my waist and pressed my body to his.

"Fine then," he said, laughing as he kissed me goodbye. I hopped into the car and went home.

I did end up going to Stephen's house after school the next day. We took the city bus together over to his house and headed inside of the house. His little brothers, Matthew and David were already there, so we headed upstairs into his cluttered bedroom. I took a seat at his desk while he went to the stereo and turned on his favorite band. He came from behind me and started kissing my neck. I giggled.

"What?" He asked, laughing as he pulled me up out of the chair and into his arms.

"Nothing, it just tickles," I replied. His hands slid down to my rear and he kissed me again. I grabbed his face, running my fingers through his hair and smiling. He pulled away and sat down, pulling me on top of him. I giggled and he kissed me again, rubbing my shoulders and reaching underneath my shirt to unclip my bra. I was somewhat hesitant, because I was never really good at these things. I didn't know what to do! I let Stephen take control and he slipped my bra off and set it down next to us. His hands slithered up my shirt and began to fondle me, and I couldn't help but let out a tiny moan. My body started tingling and I kissed Stephen harder, letting him know without words that I wanted more. My hands traveled down to his belt buckle when I slipped it off easily and unzipped his jeans. Stephen watched with sultry eyes as I slid down his jeans, and I stood up to take them off. He was left in his boxers and my hands traveled down to his growing manhood.

"Rose," he said. I started moving my hand up and down and he let out a small sigh as his lips dove for my neck. I started moving faster and faster, and I could tell that he was shaking and about to reach his point. He kissed my breasts, rubbed my back, and grabbed my shoulders when he jerked.

"Rose, oh god," he said, and I felt him reach his peak. He sighed, and reached for a towel and wiped off my hand and I stood up and put my clothes back on. He stood up, slid his jeans on as well, and wrapped me in his arms. I was shaking, somewhat from nervousness and some from excitement, but he kissed my forehead, and I felt a little better.


End file.
